Glebe House, 25 Banbridge Road, Rathfriland, Co Down, BT34 5PF

Glebe House is a detached, symmetrical former rectory built around 1820–1822 for Drumballyroney parish, standing on an elevated, mature site accessed via a long tree-lined tarmac drive on the east side of Banbridge Road. It is a rendered rubblestone building of three bays and two storeys over a basement, rectangular in plan and facing north, with a yard to the east enclosed by an L-plan range of outbuildings and a quadrant projection.

The hipped roof is covered in natural slate with black clay ridge tiles, and there are two replacement rendered chimneystacks with clay pots. Guttering is replacement metal to the rendered eaves course, with plastic downpipes. The rear bow has a semi-conical natural slate roof with lead ridges. External walls are finished in painted roughcast render over rubblestone, with painted rusticated quoins to the front elevation and entrance projection only. Window openings are square-headed with painted masonry sills and uPVC windows, diminished in size at first-floor level.

The front elevation is symmetrical with a central single-bay, two-storey flat-roofed entrance projection, which appears to have been added in the late 19th or early 20th century — a plan included in valuer's notes from 1921 confirms it was present by that date, though it may have been added somewhat earlier. The ground floor of this projection has an elliptical-headed recess containing a square-headed window opening. To the west cheek of the entrance projection is a three-centred arched door opening with a replacement hardwood panelled door, a blind panel over it, and a granite step now flush with the tarmac front area. Abutting the northeast corner of the house is a rendered quadrant wall, now obscured by a recently built single-storey rendered structure fronting onto the front area.

The east side elevation is two storeys over basement and has a single large square-headed window opening, with a pair of lean-to extensions at basement level, both roofed in natural slate. The symmetrical rear garden elevation exposes the full basement level and features a central full-height bowed bay. Abutting this is a later three-sided canted bay window inserted around 1920. The canted bay has a flat concrete roof, a uPVC patio door, an Art Nouveau leaded overlight, and 2-over-2 timber sash windows to either side. It opens onto a flight of concrete steps bridging the basement area. Cobbles line the basement area, with earth embankments to the rear and west side elevations. The west side elevation is two storeys over basement, with a single window opening to each half-landing.

The small concrete-paved yard to the east side elevation is enclosed to the north by an elliptical-headed rubblestone arched screen with iron gates and applied timber sheeting. The yard is enclosed by an L-plan range of two-storey rubblestone outbuildings with pitched natural slate roofs. There is a flight of external stone steps to the north gable and a further flight of granite steps to the north elevation of the south range. The south range has two rendered chimneystacks, timber-sheeted doors, an 8-over-4 early timber sash window, and a 2-over-2 timber sash window to the north elevation, with steel casement windows having granite sills to the south elevation. A modern bungalow has been built to the northwest of the house at the entrance to the front garden, which somewhat compromises the setting.

Despite the replacement of the original fenestration throughout, the house retains much of its original character, composition, and historic fabric, including a formal garden elevation. The outbuildings are of good quality, and the overall ensemble — house, outbuildings, and mature planting — represents a good example of the glebe house type.

The house was built in 1822 by the then rector, Reverend John Dubourdieu, at a cost of £700, of which £300 was a grant from the Board of First Fruits and £400 a loan from the same body, repayable by instalments. Dubourdieu had been appointed vicar in 1821 and served until his death in 1839. He was the successor to Reverend Tighe, who is best remembered for sending Patrick Brontë — father of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne — to Cambridge, thereby, as the Clergy of Down and Dromore records it, "enriching English literature for all time." Dubourdieu was born and educated in Dublin and is remembered for two important publications: Statistical Surveys of Counties Down and Antrim. The Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1834 describe him as a "very old grey-headed peevish man and a haughty, half-civilised self-sufficient little bit of an Irish Frenchman." He is quoted as saying to a visitor of his new house: "This is a good house I have built myself; see what a fine view it has." His income was one third of the tithes, amounting to £160 a year, with the remainder going to the Dean of Dromore.

The first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833 shows the Glebe House as a rectangular structure with a bow to the rear and a separate outbuilding to the west, now demolished. The Townland Valuation of 1828–40 records the house as home to Reverend Dubourdieu, valued at £13 3s., with dimensions of 49.6 by 24.6 by 19 feet and a basement storey in use as kitchens. Two outbuildings are noted, one of which was thatched and is now gone. Griffith's Valuation of 1856–64 records the occupier as Reverend Christophilus Garstin, the next incumbent, with the lessor listed as the Trustees of the Honourable Robert Meade. The house and outbuildings are valued at £17, and the dimensions recorded suggest the house was unchanged since the earlier valuation. Two outbuildings appear to have survived from this period, with a third added before the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1903. Reverend Garstin died suddenly at the glebe in 1864.

The 1901 census records Reverend Robert Oswald, his wife, seven of his children, and a 50-year-old cook in residence. Oswald was a regular correspondent to the Belfast Newsletter on economic and political themes. The parish was united with Drumgath on Oswald's death in 1901. The next vicar was Thomas Gibson George Collins, who became Bishop of Meath in 1926. The 1911 census records Reverend Isaac Harte, his wife, their two children, a live-in tutor from Norfolk, and a domestic servant at the house. The twelve-room house was classified as only second class at this time, which was considered most unusual for a rectory. Reverend Harte was killed in a motor accident in 1914. Subsequent incumbents included Thomas Bradley Brown and, from 1919, William Alexander Scanlen, who later moved to Chantilly, France, to serve as a chaplain. The curate-in-charge Thomas Havelock Blackburn occupied the house from 1922 until his death in 1932. Valuation records suggest the glebe house subsequently passed into private ownership, and it remains in use as a domestic dwelling.