Coleman’s, Gortineddan, Derrylin, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, BT92 9AW

Coleman's, a single-storey direct entry mud-walled thatched house, stands in Gortineddan near Derrylin in County Fermanagh. Built between 1840 and 1859, it is approached via the Ballyconnell road west of Derrylin, situated about two miles north of Ballyconnell. The house faces north-east, set back behind a rendered wall created when the road was widened, which also resulted in the loss of ground, a hedge and an outbuilding.

The structure comprises three bays with whitened rendered or roughcast external finish. The north-east corner has been rebuilt using concrete blocks of reduced thickness, with square window jambs in this section contrasting with the splayed jambs of the original thicker-walled sections. The roof is thatched between cement skews and fillets, with a plain rendered chimney rising above the kitchen hearth position.

The entrance features a flush door, flanked to the left (south-east) by two plain sashed vertically sliding windows with chamfered sash stops and traditional depth sills, and to the right by one similar window. There are no openings in the rear wall or gables. A lean-to section with a corrugated iron roof, constructed of concrete block and entered by a flush door, adjoins the house to the north-east with a small window in its gable.

The mud-walled construction is of considerable architectural interest, as is the retention of the floor level hearth, canopy and bressummer. Windows and doors follow traditional form throughout the original sections.

The house is shown on the Ordnance Survey revised map of 1857 and is recorded in the second valuation of 1862 with Patrick McKenna as occupant and John Keenan as lessor, with a rateable value of 10 shillings. Re-thatching was carried out in 1993 by Frank Gilligan of Garrison using rye straw.