Ballyvicknacally School, 91 Ballynahinch Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT25 1DX

Ballyvicknacally National School is a double-height rendered Victorian former schoolhouse, built around 1850, extended in 1906, and converted into a private dwelling in 1972. It stands to the north side of the Ballynahinch Road, west of Dromore, in the townland of Lurganbane. The building was delisted in October 2019, having previously been listed in 1977.

The building comprises a rectangular main block dating from around 1850, with a lower adjoining annexe added in 1906 and a single-storey modern extension to the rear. The pitched roof is covered in natural slate with decorative crestings to the roofline, plain bargeboards to the gables, and modern skylight insertions. Yellow brick chimneystacks rise from both gables, each carrying two tall clay pots. Cast-iron ogee rainwater goods are fitted on box eaves.

The external walls are painted smooth render with trompe l'oeil quoins and a contrasting plinth. All windows are replacement uPVC throughout, set with projecting painted masonry sills and contrasting reveals. The principal elevation faces east: the main block has four evenly-spaced windows, while the 1906 annexe to the right has a modern timber door to the left and two smaller windows to the right. The south gable is blank but carries an inscribed slate plaque reading "BALLYVICKNAKELLY NATIONAL SCHOOL. WILLIAM COWAN HERON PATRON AND PROPRIETOR", with exposed purlin ends visible to either side of it. The west (rear) elevation is four windows wide. The annexe on the left of this elevation is recessed and adjoined by a modern extension of no historic interest. The north gable is blank and has a slated lean-to extension with a modern door abutting it to the right.

The building sits in a rural setting west of Dromore, with its south gable facing the main road. A tarmacadamed lane to the east leads to a parking area and rear courtyard, and to a two-storey farmhouse to the north. To the west stands the former headmaster's house, known as Heron's Lodge. The rear garden is lawned and bounded to the south and north by modern timber fencing. A detached garage built in 1996 occupies the site of the original toilet block to the north.

The history of a school on this site predates the current building by a considerable period. A small square-shaped structure captioned "schoolhouse" appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of 1833, and the Ordnance Survey Memoirs of 1837 noted that it was not known when the school had been established, implying it was already long-standing by that date. The memoirs recorded that the school was funded by Dromore Parish Church and accommodated approximately 70 pupils, the majority of whom were Presbyterian (54), with only four Roman Catholics attending at a time when hedge schools remained the primary source of education for that denomination — between 300,000 and 400,000 children in Ireland attended hedge schools during the 1820s. By the second edition of the Ordnance Survey map in 1859 the building appears as a larger rectangular structure, captioned as "Ballyvicknacally Nat[ional] School", confirming that it had by then been incorporated into the national school system. Whether the building was extended or entirely rebuilt between 1833 and 1859 is uncertain, as subsequent rebuilding work carried out around 1880 has considerably altered its original character. The school was valued at £1 10s. in Griffith's Valuation of 1861, and although exempt from taxation, this valuation remained unchanged through to the end of the Annual Revisions in 1930. A grant application submitted to the Board of Commissioners for National Education in 1868 records that the building then measured 27 feet long by 15 feet in breadth and could accommodate over 120 children, though average daily attendance was only 30.8 for boys and 25.5 for girls.

One source, Doloughan, states that the school opened on 7th October 1850, supporting the view that the earlier structure was entirely rebuilt rather than simply renovated, though the current building as it stands was constructed in 1885. It was rebuilt at the sole expense of William Cowan Heron (c.1820–1917), a local landowner who funded a number of public buildings and utilities in and around Dromore. In 1891 Heron provided the four-faced town clock adorning the cupola of Dromore's Town Hall, but he is perhaps best remembered for erecting the Cowan Heron Hospital in the townland of Drumbroneth "for the benefit of the people of the town and neighbourhood." The adjoining teacher's residence — a two-storey cottage known as Heron's Lodge — was constructed around 1882, shortly before the school was rebuilt. Heron continued as patron of the school after its reconstruction and may well have funded the 1906 renovation works, given that he continued to meet the costs of repairs and additions to the Cowan Heron Hospital until his death in 1917. The inscribed slate plaque affixed around 1885 reads: "Ballyvicknacally / National School / William Cowan Heron / Patron and Proprietor."

With the introduction of Intermediate Schools and the eleven-plus examination in the 1950s, pupil numbers fell significantly and the school continued with only one teacher for over a decade before closing prior to 1969. By 1969 the site was occupied by a Mr P. Duffy, the record at that time covering both the school and Heron's Lodge together. The former school was converted into a private dwelling in 1972, before being listed in 1977. A modern conservatory has since been added to the rear.

The extensive loss of historic fabric and detailing resulting from the conversion and subsequent works — most notably the wholesale replacement of fenestration with uPVC units and the complete alteration of the original plan form — has significantly compromised the building's original character. Although the building retains its important local association with William Cowan Heron and an early presence on this site, it is of relatively late construction and is not considered among the finest surviving examples of its type. Its character has been too degraded by alterations to retain special architectural or historical interest, and it was removed from the statutory list in October 2019.