Survey Data
Reg No
40909408
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Social, Technical
Previous Name
The Tin Shop
Original Use
Shop/retail outlet
Historical Use
Hall
In Use As
Outbuilding
Date
1900 - 1930
Coordinates
196820, 380740
Date Recorded
12/09/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay single-storey over raised basement gable-fronted former shop/retail premises, built/erected c. 1915, having projecting single-bay flat-roofed entrance porch to the front elevation (south-east). Possibly originally in use as a hall or meeting house. Now out of use/in use as a shed/outbuilding. Pitched corrugated-metal roof with cast-iron rainwater goods, and having decorative pierced timber bargeboard to the front gable having timber finial over to gable apex. Corrugated-metal sheeting to walls over timber superstructure. Square-headed window openings having moulded timber architraved surrounds, timber sills, and mainly two-over-two fixed-pane timber windows. Metal security bars to window openings to the front elevation (south-east). Square-headed door opening to porch having timber door. Flight of concrete steps serving entrance having open concrete balustrade. Storage area to basement level having square-headed doorways with timber boarded double doors to the south-west side elevation and to the rear (north-west). Located adjacent to the main Donegal to Ballybofey/Lifford road (N15). Sited to the north-east of Donegal Town.
Appraisal
Although now out of use, this charming and quite picturesque former shop retains its early form, character and much of its early fabric. It is notable for the use of corrugated-metal sheeting for both cladding the walls and as a roofing material. The decorative pierced timber bargeboards with finial and the moulded timber architraved surrounds to the windows show some attention to aesthetics at this utilitarian structure. It was probably initially built as a temporary structure, hence the use of a cheap material such as corrugated-metal, but it has survived in good condition into the twenty-first century. County Donegal is known for the high use and survival of corrugated-metal as a building material, and this is among the most attractive examples of its use in a structure still extant in the county. According to local information, this structure may have been original built/erected as a meeting house or an Orange Hall, and it may have been moved here from another location. Indeed, there is a ‘Wesleyan Methodist Meeting House’ indicated on a 1907 map just to the south of the present site of this building and, perhaps, it is possible that this shop was formerly this meeting house, and it was later moved to its present location. This building apparently remained in use as a shop until 2006. This interesting and appealing structure is a landmark feature along the main road between Donegal and Ballybofey/Lifford, and is an integral element of the built heritage of Donegal.