69 Letterloan Road, Macosquin, Co. Londonderry, BT51 4PP

A direct-entry single-storey, two-bay rubblestone dwelling with thatch under corrugated tin roof and attached single-bay lean-to byre, built around 1840 and located on the north side of Letterloan Road southwest of Macosquin.

The building has an asymmetrical plan with rectangular main block and byre attached at the north gable. The pitched roof is covered in corrugated tin over original straw thatch, with raised masonry verges and a red brick chimneystack to the north gable. Cast-iron half-round guttering is mounted on metal brackets. The walls are constructed of random rubblestone with remnants of whitewashed lime render. Windows are remnants of 6/6 timber sash with timber lintels in plain reveals and flush stone sills. The principal elevation faces east and is four openings wide, with a timber-sheeted entrance door positioned right of centre. The south gable is blank. The west elevation is partially concealed by overgrowth but contains a window opening at the left. The north gable is abutted by the lean-to byre, which has a tin roof and timber-framed entrance at its east side.

The building is shown on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1849-52, occupying much the same plan form as today. Griffith's Valuation (1856-64) records the occupier as Bryan Mullen, who leased the house and three acres from Thomas Richardson. In 1880 the dwelling passed to Alex McKeown and remained in the McKeown family for some years. At the 1901 census, widow Mary Ann McKeown was living in the two-room thatched cottage with her four adult children; her sons worked as a tailor and labourer, and her daughters both as seamstresses. Two outbuildings—a cow house and piggery—were recorded. The house was still thatched at the 1911 census. William Leighton took over in 1919, followed by a succession of tenants. By the 1930s, valuer's notes show the roof had been replaced with corrugated iron. The accommodation comprised a bedroom and kitchen, lit by oil lamps with a dry closet to the rear. The building has since fallen into disrepair and is no longer in use.

The dwelling is situated in a rural setting on grazing land bounded by low rubblestone walling and barbed wire fencing. A large oak tree stands directly to the rear. Access is from Letterloan Road to the south via a modern metal farmgate, east of the junction with Shinny Road.