Cottage at Corry Townland, Teemore, Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh, BT92 9ES

Cottage at Corry Townland, Teemore, Derrylin, County Fermanagh

This is a rare and well-preserved example of an early vernacular house of considerable architectural, historical and social significance. It is a single-storey, three-bay mud-walled cruck-framed house, possibly dating from the mid-seventeenth century. The building is distinguished by its unspoilt design, setting, character, structural form and both internal and external detailing, and survives as an intact example of an early mud-walled cruck-framed house with much of its original contents and plan form preserved.

The house is oriented east to west on a slight slope. The roof is hipped at both ends and cut back perpendicular to the walls. The thatch is deep scallop thatch sitting low on the building, falling below normal door height, with simple hazel rod trim at the ridge and eaves. The walls are lime-rendered and whitewashed with a cobbled drain around the base.

The main elevation faces north and features a simple sheeted door into the eastern end of the central bay. To the west of the door is a small four-pane sash window (400 by 400 millimetres) with no cill. Beyond that, in the western bay, is a slightly larger four-pane sash window (400 by 800 millimetres), also with no cill. The eastern bay contains another small two-over-two pane sash window (400 by 400 millimetres). Two rendered and whitewashed chimneys sit on the ridge, aligned with the interior walls that separate the bays.

The east elevation is blank and slightly curved. The west elevation is blank. The rear south elevation has two small windows: one to the central bay is a two-pane casement with no cill, and one to the eastern bay is a single-pane casement.

The property is set within a wider farm group. To the west, uphill from the main house, are a small single-storey house and adjoining barns, detailed to harmonise with the historic building. These newer structures are in scale with the original dwelling, have natural slate roofs and sash windows, and step uphill along their length. To the east of the cottage a small stream separates the farm from the nearby road. A narrow lane with a hedge at the field junction runs parallel to the house. To the rear is a flat garden and an entrance drive to the new house; some corrugated metal barns stand to the front of the new house.

The building is recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map, and a construction date of 1650 has been suggested. The second valuation of 1862 records Bridget McCorry as the occupant, a tenant-at-will leasing the property from the Earl of Erne, with a rateable value of 10 shillings. The current owner as of 2001 is a direct descendant who worked as a thatcher and farmer until retirement. The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum visited and recorded the building in 1988, at which time it was thatched in rye. It was re-thatched in wheat in 1989 and again in rye in 1998. A major scheme of restoration and repair was undertaken in 1998 by Hearth Housing Association, including the construction of a new house providing modern bathroom and kitchen accommodation within the small group of linear structures to the north.