Site of former no. 15 Bowling Green, Strabane, Co Tyrone

This is the site of a former three-storey terraced house on the southern corner side of Bowling Green, Strabane, County Tyrone, probably built before 1832 and demolished around 1997. A Credit Union office, opened in October 1999, now occupies the combined sites of this house and the neighbouring former no. 13, with a façade designed as a virtual replica of the original buildings.

The house formed part of a short terrace of four largely identical properties. A First Survey inspection carried out on 10 February 1970 described the terrace as follows: four three-storey houses with rendered walls and slated roofs. The drop-hung windows had either plain sashes or sashes divided into two panes by a single horizontal glazing bar. With one exception, the windows were enclosed in square moulded architraves. Two of the entrances were flanked by plain pilasters rising to consoles supporting cornices, with rectangular fanlights containing radial glazing bars (and a further element whose exact description was unclear in the original survey). One entrance contained a modern door, and the fourth — presumably no. 13 — set in a moulded architrave, had a plain fanlight over the door. Decorative console brackets over the doorways had a somewhat Victorian feel, though these may well have been later additions.

The site is shown as developed on the Ordnance Survey map of 1833–34. The town plan prepared to accompany the valuation of 1832–34 has unfortunately been lost, making it difficult to trace building details with certainty. Reading through the valuation book itself, however, four dwellings of identical size are recorded, with dimensions of 23ft × 26ft × 27ft with returns of 23ft × 12½ft × 12ft. These dimensions appear to match the two remaining original houses in the terrace, nos. 17 and 19. The four houses were regarded by the valuers as "not new" at that time and were occupied respectively by a Francis O'Brien, Colonel McAlpin, Daniel Wauchob (probably Wauchop), and William Elliott. Two of the four were valued slightly lower than the other two, on account of one pair lacking cellars.

The second valuation of 1857 retains its map, which shows the terrace largely as it remained until the partial demolitions of recent decades. The 1857 valuers, however, unusually supply no dimensions and no quality letter, making direct comparison with the 1832 entries impossible. Two circumstantial links connect the two valuations and suggest it was the same terrace. First, the immediate lessors of the houses recorded in 1857 are listed as "the representatives of Colonel James McAlpin" — apparently the same man noted as an occupant in 1832. Second, in both valuations two houses are valued slightly lower than the other two, consistent with the 1832 note about the absence of cellars in one pair.

The general external appearance of the surviving houses in the terrace, notwithstanding later plate glass sashes and flat-panel doors, can safely be described as late Georgian in character. The remaining original internal detailing of no. 17 — in particular the staircase and the noticeably squat doorways with five-panel doors — supports this assessment.

The recorded occupancy history of no. 15 is as follows. In 1857 the house was occupied by a Thomas Craig. In 1867 a McColgan was succeeded by a Thomas Craig, who remained until 1869, when he moved into the neighbouring house (latterly no. 13). Mary J. Flanagan then occupied the property until 1878, by which date a James Scott had become the immediate lessor. William R. Orr is listed as occupant between 1878 and 1886. The house lay vacant in 1887, before passing to John McGinty the following year and Andrew Hamilton in 1890. From 1895 to 1899 a Reverend J. McIlhatton lived there, succeeded by a Samuel Ewing (1899–1902) and William Stewart (1902–08). By this stage the representatives of Colonel McAlpin were again noted as immediate lessors, though by 1908 the lease had passed to A.K.S. McA. Robertson, probably a relation or descendant of McAlpin judging by the initials. By 1909 a Terence Fox is named as resident, followed by John Gormely (1910–15), Daniel McCaffery (1915–17), James McKee (1918–28), James Ross (1928–36), John N. Clements (1936–45), and Donald Smyth (1945–51). In the latter year Eugene Gormley became the immediate lessor, with Joseph and Theresa Gormley recorded as occupants. K.G. Fitzpatrick rented the property from 1954 to 1956, and M.J. Conway from 1956/57 until at least 1972. The house was demolished around 1997 together with the neighbouring no. 13.