Survey Data
Reg No
40910337
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Technical
Original Use
House
In Use As
House
Date
1850 - 1900
Coordinates
186222, 366279
Date Recorded
03/01/2012
Date Updated
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Description
Detached three-bay single-storey vernacular house, built c. 1875, having central projecting single-bay flat-roofed entrance porch to the main elevation (south) and single-bay flat-roofed extension attached to the east gable end. Now also in use as tea rooms. Pitched thatched roof having ropes raised rendered verges and rendered chimneystacks to the gable ends (east and west). Rendered walls. Square-headed window openings having two-over-two-pane timber sliding sash windows. Square-headed doorway to east side of porch having timber door. Set back from road in own grounds to the south-west of Rossnowlagh and the north-west of Ballyshannon. Lawned gardens to site. Tarmacadam drive and lane from the main road to the south.
Appraisal
Despite some recent alterations and additions, this appealing thatched vernacular house retains much of its early character and form, and is an attractive feature in the scenic landscape close to Rossnowlagh and Belalt Strand. 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. The form of this building – the location of the chimneystacks and their relationship with the main doorway - suggests that this building is of the ‘direct entry’ type that is characteristic of the vernacular tradition in north-west Ireland. This building is one of the last surviving thatched houses in Rossnowlagh, an area that had numerous examples until recent years. This house represents an interesting 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.