159 Tullysaran Road, Laraghshankill, Benburb, Co. Armagh, BT61 8HF

159 Tullysaran Road, Laraghshankill, Benburb, County Armagh

A single-storey, three-bay, lobby-entry thatched house dating from the early 19th century (circa 1820-1839). The building stands at the junction of the Tullysaran and Maydown roads, approximately one and a half miles south of Benburb.

The walls are constructed partly of whitened stone and partly of mud construction. The house is set behind a low roughcast boundary wall with projecting saddle-back coping, square pillars with pyramidal caps, and a hoop-iron gate. The thatch is contained within raised parapet gables, both of which rise to a chimneystack, with an additional stack positioned above the kitchen hearth.

The entrance is housed in a windbreak porch covered by an extension of the thatch. It is flanked on either side by two plain sashed windows with exposed frames and small sash stops; those on the left (north-west) are more widely spaced. A similar window of reduced dimensions without a sill appears in the left-hand gable. On the opposite side, the building extends in corrugated iron-roofed construction. At the rear, beginning from the north-east corner, there is a plain sashed vertically sliding window without a sill, followed by two metal-framed windows with traditional-depth sills. A lean-to extension with corrugated iron roofing completes the rear elevation.

The house first appears on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map without outbuildings. By 1835, a building matching the present form is shown at this location, though it is not recorded in contemporary valuations. The 1860 revised map shows a small structure to the south side. The property was recorded in the 1862 valuation with a modest rateable value of 10 shillings, leased from John Kilpatrick.

The building was noted as derelict in 1994, with the structure and roof covering in very poor condition at that time. The new owner was reported as sympathetic to restoration, and contact was made with Enterprise Ulster regarding a potential partnership scheme. By September 2000, however, the massive deterioration that had occurred was considered to preclude repair, and restoration would have required rebuilding so extensive that the building could no longer be considered of special architectural or historic interest. The property was subsequently delisted on 23 January 2009.