Survey Data
Reg No
40909008
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
House
Date
1810 - 1850
Coordinates
159935, 380684
Date Recorded
31/10/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached four-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1830 and modified c. 1970, having modern single-storey flat-roofed extension to the rear (north). Now out of use. Pitched rope-and-stone peg reed thatch under plastic sheeting. Stone pegs below eaves level and to gable ends (east and west); copper plumbing piping used in place of stone pegs to front elevation (south). Rendered chimneystacks to west gable end and to the east side of centre having terracotta pots over. Roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth course. Square-headed window openings, enlarged c. 1970, having replacement timber casement windows, rendered reveals and replacement sills. Square-headed doorway, offset to the west side of centre, having replacement glazed timber door and with smooth render reveals. Number of window openings now blocked. Set back from road in own grounds to the north-east of An Charraig/Carrick and adjacent to the east bank of the Glen River. Laneway to house from road to the east. House aligned along approach laneway. Single-bay two-storey outbuilding adjacent to the west having pitched natural slate roof with raised render verges to gable ends, rubble stone walls with roughly squared quoins to the corners, and square-headed doorways with replacement fittings. Modern single-storey outbuilding to south of site having mono-pitched corrugated metal roof, pebbledashed walls, and square-headed door openings.
Appraisal
Despite extensive modern alterations and extensions, this modest vernacular house retains some of its early character and charm. Modest in scale, it exhibits the simple and functional form of vernacular building in Ireland. Of particular interest in the survival of the thatched roof, now protected under plastic sheeting, which is now sadly becoming increasingly rare in Donegal. The rounded or shallow pitched 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. This house represents a modest surviving example of a once ubiquitous building type in the rural Irish countryside, and is an addition to the vernacular heritage of County Donegal. The rubble stone outbuilding to the west survives in good condition and adds considerably to the setting and context of this building, which is an appealing feature in the desolate rural landscape to the north-east of An Charraig/Carrick.