Manor Court House, 176 Ballagh Road, Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh, BT92 5DJ

Manor Court House

An imposing roadside Gothic Revival court house with a tower and entrance porch, abutting a two-storey dwelling, all aligned west to east on the north side of Ballagh Road. The building was erected in 1853 by James Haire of nearby Armagh Manor, as confirmed by a datestone. Together with the nearby Ballagh Cottages and Estate Cottages, it forms part of a striking and coherent group associated with the Armagh Manor estate.

The structure comprises a single-storey element (bay 1) forming the tail of a T-plan, with a two-storey cross gable (bay 2) forming the house. The pitched natural slate roof is topped with a large cement-coped brick chimney set perpendicular to the ridge of the cross gable at its centre; the style of this brickwork suggests a modern rebuild. Eaves are overhanging with exposed rafter tails and decorative scalloped timber bargeboards to all gables. Rainwater goods are half-round metal. Walls are lime-rendered over rubble stone, with most windows presently boarded over. Openings feature flush sandstone cills, while some have rendered brick heads or relieving arches.

The principal elevation faces south. Bay 1 contains a 2/4 top-hung casement window to the left. The tower abuts immediately to its right, with a string course running around the top of its first stage, above which it stands free. The tower is detailed as the main block and is topped with a pyramidal natural slate roof supported on four stone brackets to each side. All openings are arrow-loop windows with dressed stone jambs, heads and flush cills. The south (front) elevation has a window at each stage; the west elevation has windows to stages two and three only; the north elevation has a window opening to stage three; and the east elevation has a window opening to stage three.

The entrance porch is positioned in the angle between the tower and main block, with a pitched natural slate roof. Its south face features a Tudor-headed vertical-and-tongue-grooved sheeted door at centre, decorated with strap hinges. The right cheek has a tall window opening infilled with concrete blocks, while the left cheek abuts the tower and the rear abuts the main block. To the right of the porch is a large 2x2 top-hung casement window.

The projecting cross gable contains a window to each floor, with the ground-floor window in landscape format and the first-floor window similar but slightly diminished in width. The left gable of bay 1 has a projecting bay at its centre with a lean-to natural slate roof sloping west and decorative bargeboards matching those of the house. This bay features three tall windows to the front face and one to each cheek, all separated by thick finely dressed sandstone mullions and sharing a continuous flush stone cill. Above this bay is a stone plaque reading 'Armagh / Manor / Court House / 1853'.

The rear elevation is abutted to its extreme right by the remains of a lean-to outbuilding. To the immediate left of this outbuilding is a 1/2 top-hung casement window with a projecting stone cill. The projecting cross gable of the dwelling, at the left, has a pair of 3x3 fixed-pane windows with central timber mullion and common stone cill to the first floor. The projecting section of its right cheek has a vertical-and-tongue-grooved sheeted door.

The outbuilding is roofless, formerly with a monopitched roof sloping east, and has rubble stone walls comprising two bays, each with a door opening to the east face. Its east elevation is abutted by a projecting gabled porch at centre, detailed as the main structure. The porch's front face has a Tudor-headed door; its right and left cheeks each have a tall window infilled with concrete blocks and with flush stone cills. To either side of the porch is a large window; that to the left is boarded with vertical-and-tongue-grooved sheeting, that to the right with corrugated metal.

To the rear is a small yard enclosed by the main block, outbuildings and a high rubble stone wall. Beyond lies an elevated wooded area. The building is maturely planted all around and enclosed from the road by a thick hedge. A small wrought-iron gate with fleur-de-lys finials and dog-bars, supported on square-section cement-rendered gate piers with pyramidal stone caps, provides access to the site.

Historical records indicate that the building was cited as a 'court house' in the 1859 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map. It was recorded as a 'church school house' in the published second valuation book (1862, but compiled 1860), and was cited as 'Ballagh Ch' on the 1906-07 Ordnance Survey map, suggesting that it was also used as a place of worship for a period. Many of the building's original Gothic Revival features remain intact.