Survey Data

Reg No

40908106


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Technical


Original Use

House


In Use As

House


Date

1800 - 1860


Coordinates

160073, 388815


Date Recorded

30/10/2007


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Detached four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1820, having windbreak porch to the front elevation (south-east) and bed outshot to the rear (north-west). Pitched/domed rope-and-peg thatched roof having stone pegs below eaves level; no evidence of chimneystack. Limewashed rubble stone walls. Square-headed window openings with cut stone sills and replacement timber casement windows. Largely blank elevation to rear (north-east). Square-headed door opening to front face of windbreak porch having stone plinth blocks to base and with replacement battened timber door. Flagstones to threshold. Set back from road in sloping site in the rural landscape to the north-east of Gleann Cholm Cille/Glencolumbkille. Short laneway to house from the roadside to the south. Remains of dry stone boundary walls to site.

Appraisal

This thatched vernacular house retains its early form and character, and is an appealing feature in the rural landscape to the north-east of Gleann Cholm Cille/Glencolumbkille. Modest in scale, it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. Of particular interest in the survival of the thatch roof, although recently renewed, 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, while the pegs to the eaves were used to tie ropes (and sometimes nets) over the roof to secure it against the prevailing winds, as is the case with this example at Straboy. The irregular-spacing of the openings to the front façade lends it an appealing vernacular character. The blank rear elevation is a typical feature of many small-scale vernacular dwellings in rural Ireland, while the bed outshot to the rear is a feature that is found on many vernacular buildings in Donegal and was used to house a bed adjacent to the hearth for warmth. The fenestration pattern to the main elevation suggests that this building may have been extended to the north-east by a bay at some stage. This house represents a fine surviving example of a once ubiquitous building type in the rural Irish countryside, and is a valuable addition to the vernacular heritage of County Donegal.