73 Cloy Road, Edenamohill Black, Ederney, Co. Fermanagh

73 Cloy Road, Edenamohill Black, Ederney

A single-storey thatched vernacular dwelling with loft level, constructed in the early 19th century (pre-1835, possibly 18th century based on roof structure), set on a slope to the south side of Cloy Road, 3.8 kilometres east of Ederney village. The house faces roughly east and is accompanied by a linear arrangement of attached single-storey outbuildings. The building has not been occupied for several years and is currently in a state of disrepair.

The walls and chimneystacks are constructed in semi-coursed squared stone and rubble, with gables rising to parapets finished with roughly dressed copings. The south gable is slightly off plumb. Patches of lime render remain on the walls, though substantially discoloured. The roof is covered in thatch that is substantially decomposed. The original roughly-hewn trusses survive at the north end, though partially collapsed. The south end, used as a bedroom, has a boarded ceiling and may employ purlins without trusses.

The entrance comprises a small, off-centre porch with distinctive angled sides and a flat roof formed from a single stone slab. The doorway is flat-arched with a timber-sheeted double door. To the left of the porch is a relatively small flat-arch window-opening with a replacement timber frame of circa 1970s-80s date. To the right is a larger, enlarged window-opening with a circa 1950s-60s metal frame. The south gable contains two very small, square upper level window-openings with fixed-light frames. The rear elevation has three window-openings: the outer openings match the front left example but retain the remains of timber sash frames, whilst the central opening matches those to the gable.

The outbuildings are constructed similarly to the house but with corrugated-metal roofs. The southern building has a pedestrian doorway with a timber-sheeted door to the front. The larger of the northern buildings has a broader, cart-width doorway with a timber-sheeted double door. The smaller northern structure appears to have a pedestrian door, obscured by dense shrubbery. Each outbuilding has a rear window-opening: those to the northern buildings are boarded with corrugated-metal sheeting, whilst that to the southern building contains a three-pane timber frame.

Ordnance Survey mapping of 1835 shows a building matching the present house with a small separate structure marked as a corn kiln to the north-west. The 1857 revised map depicts a slightly longer building, indicating that some or all of the outbuildings had been added by that date. The 1905 map and all subsequent surveys show a similar plan.

The property was not recorded in the circa 1836 valuation as it fell below rateable value, but appears in the second valuation of 1860 with Owen Keane listed as occupant and a rateable value of £1-10-0. Owen Keane remained resident until 1882, when William Keane (probably his son) is recorded as occupant. Elizabeth Keane is noted as resident in 1907, followed by Joseph Keane, who acquired the freehold between 1929 and 1935. By 1941 the property had passed to Mary Teague, with Maria Maguire recorded as living there in 1942, followed by Stephen and Michael Gallagher in 1945, and Ellen J. Gallagher (later Ellen J. Maguire) in 1949. The last recorded occupant was William A. Knox, who took up residency between 1972 and 1975 and remained listed in the valuation books as householder through 1993.