31 Halfpenny Gate Road, Broomhedge, Moira, Co. Down, BT67 0HW

31 Halfpenny Gate Road is a single-storey, five-bay, lobby entry thatched house of early 19th-century origin, possibly older. It is located in Creenagh townland, Broomhedge, reached by turning south-east from Moira roundabout (Exit 9 from the M1 towards Lisburn) and continuing for a mile and a half along Halfpenny Gate Road.

The house faces north-west. The front and gable walls are of mud construction, while the rear wall is built in stone. All external walls are finished with limewash, with a black base finish. The left-hand (north-east) gable has been reinforced in its lower part. Internal partitions are of brick with one of mud.

The dam-retted thatch covering is contained within cement skews and features three rows of exposed scollops at the ridge and two below the chimneys, with a single row at the eaves. The right-hand (south-west) gable rises to a chimney with double corbels. There are further similar chimney stacks: one above the kitchen hearth position and one over the wall between the bedroom and bathroom at the north-east end. Each stack carries a single pot; the stack over the kitchen hearth is fitted with a spark arrester.

The projecting porch has a pitched corrugated iron roof finished with a timber bargeboard. The entrance door is framed, ledged, braced and timber sheeted, with small window openings on either side and plain dressings at the corners. The front elevation contains five windows: two to the south-west of the porch, widely spaced, and three to the left, more closely spaced. All front windows are vertically sliding sashes with two horizontal panes, moulded sash stops, and sills of traditional depth. The surrounds project slightly and the heads are undulating. The gables have no window openings.

A modern kitchen extension with flat felt roof and plastic rainwater goods projects from the rear, fitted with modern casement windows. The rear elevation contains four modern casement windows: one to the left (south-west) and three to the right of the extension, all with narrow sills. These modern insertions have a negative effect on the overall character of the building, though the alterations providing the porch and internal corridor are considered acceptable developments. The embellishment of the front window surrounds complements the porch in style.

The house overlooks a strip of grass behind a timber fence containing a single leaf modern metal gate.

The building appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1832–33 but is not recorded in the near-contemporary valuation. It is included in the second valuation of 1859, when Thomas Dougherty leased the property from the Hertford Estate at a rateable value of £1–10–0.

The thatched roof has undergone several interventions: patching by Irish Thatchers Ltd in 1977 using straw; re-thatching by Gerry Agnew in 1981 using wheat straw; patching in 1986 using straw; repair of fire damage in May 1987; repair of bird damage in 1992 using flax; and a further scheme in 1996 also using flax. The kitchen extension was constructed in 1982.