52 Lisnagat Road, Markethill, Co. Armagh, BT60 1SR

52 Lisnagat Road, Markethill, Co. Armagh

This is an asymmetrical late 18th- to early 19th-century vernacular farmstead, built around 1800, situated on the south side of Lisnagat Road to the west of Markethill in the townland of Damoily. It comprises a linear range with a two-storey, two-bay farmhouse and a series of outbuildings arranged around an irregular yard. The group is representative of a building type once common in the Ulster countryside but now increasingly rare, and the farmhouse retains much of its historic fabric and detailing both externally and internally.

Architectural Description

The farmhouse is rectangular in plan with no projecting abutments. The roof is pitched natural slate, with red brick gable chimneystacks fitted with cogged caps. There is a rendered eaves band to the front elevation and slightly advanced rubble stone eaves to the rear. The rainwater goods are missing, though iron drive-in brackets remain in place. The walls are constructed of random rubble stone with lime mortar, surviving in vestigial form to the front and more fully to the rear; rusticated cast-cement quoins appear at the north end.

The principal elevation faces east and is notable for its irregular fenestration. There are three windows on each floor; those to the right-hand bay sit at a slightly lower level than those to the left, and the first-floor windows are diminished in height. The entrance door is positioned to the extreme left of the facade — an unusual arrangement — sheltered within a timber-sheeted windbreak porch. Window openings to the front are formed with rubble stone voussoirs and stone cills. The windows themselves are a varied collection of timber sashes, including 8-over-8 lights that are likely original, as well as 2-over-2, 1-over-1 and 3-over-3 examples. One of the 8-over-8 windows retains thick panes of crown glass complete with hubs; one replacement window with plain glazing is also present.

The rear elevation has four windows of differing dimensions at ground-floor level. At first-floor level two timber lintels are visible but no openings are apparent. Rear windows are generally without cills. The north gable is blank. The south gable is abutted by the lower central outbuilding.

The Outbuildings

The outbuildings are arranged in a linear plan extending from the south gable of the house, described from right to left as follows:

1. A single-storey central range with a tin roof and limewashed rubble stone walling. The brickwork built up at eaves level indicates that this range was formerly thatched. There is a timber-sheeted door to the front; the rear is cement-rendered and may have been partially rebuilt in concrete block.

2. A two-storey range with limewashed rubble stone walling and a pitched slate roof, currently with a large hole. It has timber-sheeted doors and loft openings. The rear is built up with corrugated iron enclosures.

3. An end block with a tin roof, concrete block walling and metal windows, considered to be of no architectural interest.

To the east side of the yard stands an additional detached rubble stone outbuilding with a pitched tin roof and timber doors. To the rear of the site are further agricultural buildings of rubble stone construction, built up in places with concrete block and covered with tin roofs.

Setting

The farmstead occupies a steep site in a rural setting with farmland on all sides. The main buildings flank the west side of an irregularly shaped, sloping concrete yard.

Interior

The house retains much of its historic interior fabric and detailing, though specific interior features are not individually enumerated in the record beyond general confirmation of their survival.

Historical Background

The farmhouse and its outbuildings, including the range adjoining the south gable and the detached outbuilding to the east, were all in existence by 1835 when they appear on the first edition Ordnance Survey map for County Armagh. A third building, located to the east of the current farm, was also shown on that map but was demolished in the 1870s. There was little discernible alteration to the farm between 1835 and 1860, and the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1860 recorded the layout unchanged.

Griffith's Valuation of 1863 records the farm as being in the ownership of the Earl of Charlemont, who leased it to separate tenants. James McGaughey, a local farmer, occupied the two-storey farmhouse and all the outbuildings that survive today; his holding was valued at £3. A separate portion of the farm — consisting solely of the now-demolished eastern building — was leased by Ankram Marshall, a farmer from the immediately neighbouring property, who in turn sub-let it to a Mr. Robert Lawson. The valuer recorded Lawson's dwelling as a house valued at 10 shillings. Lawson continued to reside there until 1878, when the building was demolished.

James McGaughey's son Joseph took over the farm in 1890 and remained there until 1902, when a relative, Miss Eliza Jane McGaughey, briefly took possession. In 1907 Joseph McGaughey's son, also named Joseph, became sole occupant. The 1911 census building return described the farmhouse as a second-class dwelling of five rooms, with the outbuildings recorded as being in use as a stable, a cow house, a piggery and a barn. In 1913 Joseph McGaughey purchased the farm outright from the Earl of Charlemont's estate; the family continued to reside there until the death of the last resident.

The First Revaluation of 1935 increased the value of the property to £5, which was slightly reduced to £4 10 shillings by the end of the Second Revaluation period (1956–72), which continued to record Joseph McGaughey as both occupant and owner. The general layout of the farm has remained essentially unaltered since the 1830s, with no significant changes recorded between the third edition Ordnance Survey map of 1906 and the fourth edition of 1954–55, and no subsequent alterations apparent since that time.

Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of Ireland (1837) records that in the parish of Kilcluney (also written Kilclooney), one of the principal occupations of the local population was the weaving of linen and cotton cloth.

The current owner and a neighbour both record that the house served as a local ceilidh house in the early 20th century, and possibly earlier, hosting social gatherings for people from throughout the surrounding community. The property is currently vacant.