Mulnavar Lodge, 112 Drumlegagh Church Road, Bomackatall, Drumquin, Omagh, BT78 4PP

Mulnavar Lodge is a detached three-bay two-storey gabled stone house built around 1870. An unusual mid-nineteenth-century lodge occupying a prominent rural site, it is a substantial building expressing its original function as the steward's house for the Stronge estate, retaining its original character and detailing in a style uncommon to this area. The name Mulnavar is also associated with the National School built beside the road adjacent to the entrance, which bears a datestone of 1872.

The building is arranged on an L-plan facing east, located to the north of Drumlegagh Church Road on an elevated site. It is accessed by a long drive to the southeast, with a two-storey outhouse forming an enclosed rear yard and a larger range of outbuildings arranged around a yard to the west. The roofs are pitched natural slate with a catslide over the rear pitch to half-landing level only, finished with stone ridge tiles. Three stone ashlar chimneysstacks feature decorative octagonal clay pots and lead flashing. Carved stone fractibles to all gables have chamfered moulding below, continued to the entire eaves and supporting ogee-moulded cast-iron guttering with octagonal hoppers and cast-iron downpipes. The walls are of squared uncoursed stone with ashlar quoins and a chamfered ashlar plinth course.

Window openings are square-headed, formed in landscape format with flush stone ashlar divided into three or four lights with stone mullions. All windows have been replaced with timber double-glazed casement units throughout.

The front elevation faces east with an advanced single-bay two-storey gable to the left containing a rectangular-plan three-sided bay window to the ground floor and a stone canopy to the principal entrance in the right inner angle. The bay window has a three-sided stone ashlar frame of four vertical lights to the front with stone mullions and one light to each cheek, set on a continuous sill course with carved cornice and blocking course above. The square-headed door opening is formed in flush tooled and chamfered in-and-out work with a pair of s-curved stone brackets supporting a single stone canopy. A timber panelled door with glazed upper panels opens onto the front paved area.

The south elevation has a symmetrical arrangement of two windows to both floors with a gablet rising through the eaves above each bay. Ground floor openings contain four lights; first floor openings contain three lights.

The west rear elevation has a blank two-storey gable to the right with a half-landing window opening below the eaves to the centre and a square-headed door opening to the left flanked by smaller window openings either side. The windows and door have been replaced with timber casement units and a hardwood glazed door respectively.

The north elevation comprises a full catslide gabled elevation with a single tripartite window opening to both floors and an advanced chimneystack to the rear end with offsets and a small window opening to the rear eaves.

The setting includes a multi-bay two-storey stone former coach-house set parallel to the rear of the main house, containing a segmental-headed carriage-arch opening giving access to an enclosed internal yard. Tall rubble-stone walls enclose the yard to either side. Detailing matches the main house except for original bipartite timber casement windows with timber mullions. A further carriage opening with timber lintel and replacement timber doors is set to the interior of the yard, with recesses in the walls either side to accommodate previous doors.

The coach-house west elevation forms one side of a large farmyard comprising single and two-storey whitewashed rubble-stone outbuildings with pitched natural slate and corrugated iron roofs.

Historical Context

A building of similar footprint appears on the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1854, captioned 'Mulnavar Lodge', though the mullioned windows and gabled elevations suggest a date approximately twenty years later. The 1833 map shows a previous cross-shaped building on the site captioned 'Clover Hill'. Griffith's Valuation of 1858 records the property as a steward's house, offices and land, with the occupier listed as Sir James M. Stronge holding the property in fee. The building valuation was £37. Internal fittings suggest a later date for the house than 1854, and it appears likely that it was rebuilt on the same site, though no documentary evidence has been found to support this.

The current owner stated that the house was built by Colonel Sir James Stronge, 3rd Baronet of Tynan (fl.1811–1885), born at Tynan Abbey, County Armagh. Colonel Stronge was Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of County Cavan and Member of Parliament for Armagh from 1864 to 1874. Along with Tynan, Mulnavar is listed as one of his residences in the 1880 Belfast and Ulster Street Directory.