13 Kearney Village, Kearney Road, Portaferry, Co Down, BT22 1QP

13 Kearney Village is a Grade B2 listed building comprising a two-storey gabled former barn of probable mid 19th century construction with a one-and-a-half storey mid 20th century extension. The building was converted to a dwelling house in 1996-97 and sits in the centre of Kearney Village, just south of the village car park, approximately three miles east of Portaferry.

The front (south) elevation of the larger barn section features a timber and glazed door left of centre, with a sash window and vertical astragals to its right. A similar timber and glazed door stands to the left with a two-pane adjoining window, and a small sash window to the right of this second door. A flight of stone steps crosses the front elevation, leading to a first floor double timber door set within a half dormer with a mono pitch roof. Two single-pane tilting windows occupy the first floor to the left of the double door. The front elevation of the single-storey extension includes a sliding sash and case window and timber and glazed door to the right of the steps. The east gable of the extension has a sliding sash attic window, with a similar but slightly larger window to the first floor of the west gable.

The rear (north) face of the extension contains a sash window to the left and a plain sheeted timber door to the right. The rear of the larger section has two small single-pane first floor windows, a small four-pane window to the left on the ground floor, and a larger sash window to the right.

The larger section is unrendered but painted, whilst the extension is finished in plain render and painted. The roofs of both sections are gabled and covered with Bangor blue slates. Two rendered chimney stacks rise from the roof of the larger section. A small cast iron skylight is positioned in the front elevation of the extension roof. The building features cast iron gutters and downspouts throughout.

Cartographic evidence shows a longer building on this site in the 1860 Ordnance Survey map (but not in that of 1834), which may partially correspond with the present structure. The building originally served as a barn. The extension to the east gable appears to have been added in the mid 20th century and was originally flat-roofed, though it appears to have replaced an earlier structure. The entire building underwent conversion to a dwelling house in 1996-97.

Kearney Village itself has a long and complex history. In early medieval times, the townland of Kearney was possessed by the McKearneys, a family possibly distantly related to the O'Neills of Tyrone. During the later medieval period, the land came into the possession of the Gaelicised Norman Savages, who leased much of it to the Smiths, a dependent family of similar origin. A 1643 lease from Patrick Savage to Patrick Smith references the mill, mill ponds, and watercourses—then among Kearney's most lucrative assets. By the later 17th century, the Savages had leased much of Kearney to the Ross family of Rosstrevor, who held the lands throughout the 18th century. The first indication of a substantial settlement on the site of the present village comes from a lease of March 1729. This settlement grew throughout the remainder of the century, with locals employed on local farms and at two nearby flax and corn mills, supplementing their incomes through salvaging from shipwrecks and possibly smuggling and wrecking.

The village probably reached its greatest population and activity in the 1830s, when it contained 33 families, two schools (one Church of Ireland and Catholic, one Presbyterian), and a ceilidh house. Most buildings visible today appear to have been present at this time, though as most were exempt from rating, little was recorded in the 1836 valuation. Only three single-storey houses were mentioned: those occupied by Hugh and John McNabb and Widow Hasty, who owned the nearby windmill.

Kearney's fortunes began a slow decline in the latter half of the 19th century. By 1900, the population had halved as people sought prosperity in towns or emigrated. By 1938, most Kearney farms and cottages had passed to Hugh Orr, who established a model farm nearby. This decline continued; by 1945 only three houses were occupied by a total of seven residents. When the National Trust acquired the village twenty years later, using funds from the Enterprise Neptune campaign, it was practically a ghost town. Since 1965, the Trust has restored and reconstructed Kearney based on the village plan shown on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map, when the settlement had probably reached its zenith. Most houses are now occupied as full-time homes or holiday residences, with all properties leased from the Trust. Currently, only one original dwelling awaits imminent restoration.