Thatched House., The Castle, Curragh Road, Magilligan, Limavady, Co Londonderry

A single storey thatched house of traditional form, built in basalt and dating to the early 19th century. The building is five bays long with direct entry and a back door opposite, originally constructed with a gable hearth before later extension. Three chimneys punctuate the structure.

The main house comprises four bays beneath a marram grass thatch, with chimneys at either end. The thatch is laid in the characteristic local manner, with marram grass or 'bent' turned down to form the typical 'fringe' and neatly trimmed; the present thatch dates from two years prior to survey. To the east, a roof of corrugated asbestos covers outhouses. To the west, corrugated metal sheeting covers a cottage and outhouses. The buildings run in line along the contour, forming the familiar long structure characteristic of the Magilligan area, set back some five metres from the roadside across rising ground.

All windows to the front are sliding sash, comprising four small 12-paned examples and one kitchen window divided into four panes. A single modern window serves the kitchen at the rear. The entrance door is sheeted. The basalt walls beneath the thatch and corrugated asbestos are butter-pointed, whilst the outhouses are rendered. Concrete blocks project from the walls, suggesting an intended rear porch or scullery extension.

The site is documented on the Ordnance Survey map of 1830–31, where it is recorded in valuation returns as the home of James McLaughlin, rated at £2–5–0. The second valuation of 1857 records the same property under Sir Frederick Heygate as lessor, with an additional dwelling to the west occupied by John McLaughlin. A number of derelict single storey dwellings and outhouses stand across the road; mill remains lie to the east in a hollow.