Grianán, 35 & 37 Boneybefore, Carrickfergus, Co. Antrim, BT38 7EQ

Grianán, 35 & 37 Boneybefore, Carrickfergus

This semi-detached, street-fronted dwelling was built around 1800 as a three-bay single-storey house with attic storey. It faces south and includes a single-storey lean-to extension to the east and a further lean-to extension to the rear. The structure occupies a prominent location on Boneybefore's streetscape and, along with the nearby Andrew Jackson Centre, represents one of the last remaining thatched dwellings in a village that was once largely composed of thatched houses.

The roof was destroyed by fire in 1989 and was re-roofed and re-thatched around 1990. The building was then extensively refurbished around 2002. Much of the original fabric has been lost through these substantial alterations in the last decade, though the rubblestone walling remains largely intact beneath painted render, though partly rebuilt to the eastern end in concrete block.

The pitched roof is laid in wheat thatch with a roll-over ridge, hazel lattice-work, hazel withies, haze and wire scallops. The roof is encased in chicken wire. A rebuilt rendered chimneystack with terracotta pot sits on the rendered gable. The lean-to extension has an artificial slate roof with metal rainwater goods and timber fascia, falling from a parapet wall to the east gable.

Window openings are square-headed with concrete lintels, sills and smooth render surrounds, fitted with replacement timber casement windows. A trapezoid-shaped window opening at attic level on the east gable has a smooth render surround, concrete sill and timber casement window. The front door opening is square-headed with a smooth render surround and contains a vertically-sheeted timber half-door with brass furniture and glazed panel, dating to around 2004. A further square-headed door opening to the rear has a timber door with glazed upper panel. The front door opens directly onto the public pavement with cement paving to the east and a small rear yard enclosed by a concrete wall leading to a raised gravel garden.

Historical records indicate that the property originally comprised three separate houses rather than the current two. Griffith's Valuation of 1859 records three properties: one occupied by William McDowell valued at £0 13s, a second leased from Alex Donaldson by Thomas Pullens and valued at £1, and a third vacant property valued at £0 10s with Samuel Hopkins listed as lessor. A Town Plan of Boneybefore dating from 1904–1927 shows the buildings in detail as three properties, and the second edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857 depicts similar buildings in this location and form.