Survey Data

Reg No

15403205


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Technical


Original Use

Farm house


In Use As

Farm house


Date

1800 - 1950


Coordinates

234970, 240305


Date Recorded

20/10/2004


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Detached Four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c.1800 and altered c.1950, having a single-bay flat-roofed entrance porch to the main elevation (south) and a single-bay single-storey extension to the east gable end. Barrel-vaulted corrugated metal roof with cast-iron rainwater goods. No chimneystacks. Smooth rendered walls with square-headed window openings having two-over-two pane sliding sash windows. Square-headed doorcase to the east face of porch and a blocked square-headed window opening to the front face of porch (south). Road-fronted to the northwest of Ballinagore with complex of single-storey outbuildings to the north and west.

Appraisal

An unusual vernacular house, which retains much of its early character and fabric. This vernacular house is exceptional in having a barrel-vaulted corrugated metal roof and is probably unique within County Westmeath. This distinctive feature was added c.1950 and probably replaced an earlier thatched roof to this structure. corrugated metal is now considered a twentieth century vernacular material and is now becoming worthy of attention on account of its place within the development of Irish traditional dwellings. A number of the outbuildings to the rear have steeply pitched roofs and may have been originally built as dwellings. This appealing vernacular structure is a curious but worthy addition to the vernacular heritage of Westmeath and is an interesting addition to the rural landscape to the north of Ballinagore.