Survey Data
Reg No
40903003
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
House
Date
1850 - 1890
Coordinates
249940, 434446
Date Recorded
25/10/2008
Date Updated
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Description
Detached four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1870, with bed outshot to rear. Pitched thatch roof with smooth rendered chimneystacks to gables with rendered coping. Roughcast rendered walls. Square-headed window openings with timber casement windows and painted sills. Square-headed door opening with glazed timber panelled door. Attached single-storey outbuilding with pitched corrugated-metal roof to south gable and ruined outbuildings to north gable. Single-storey outbuilding comprising rubble stone walls and pitched thatch roof to east of site.
Appraisal
Although now disused, this vernacular thatched house still retains a sound structure and its characteristic bed outshot to the rear. Modest in architectural ambition it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. Of particular interest in the survival of the thatch roof to the extension to the west, which is now sadly becoming increasingly rare in Donegal. The rounded roof is a typical feature of thatched houses located close to the sea in exposed areas in the north-west of Ireland. The form of this building and location of the chimneystacks suggests the main dwelling is of the ‘direct entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in north-west Ireland. The loss of the original fabric to the openings detracts somewhat from its appeal though suitable replacements could easily be installed. Sensitively restored, this building would make a strongly positive contribution to its pleasant rural location, and would be an integral element of the built heritage of the local area. Thatched buildings, still relatively common in Inishowen, nationally are becoming increasingly rare making their survival a matter of importance. The thatched outbuilding is a rare and unusual survival, and adds significantly to this site.