39 Dolmen Road, Banbridge, Co Down, BT31 9SW

39 Dolmen Road, Banbridge, is a two-storey vernacular direct-entry stone dwelling with an attached byre, located on the site of a building which may contain fabric from around 1834. The complex stands on a steep site north of the Legananny Dolmen and approximately five miles south of Dromara, in the townland of Legananny.

The main dwelling is a rectangular-plan two-bay structure with a pitched natural slate roof fitted with clay ridge tiles, cement skews, and cement-rendered chimneystacks with corbelled upper courses and no pots or rainwater goods. The walls are rubble masonry with vestiges of lime render. The principal south elevation is asymmetrically arranged, with a centrally positioned twentieth-century cement-rendered porch (with flat roof and projected string course, painted timber sheeted door, and two timber casement windows) flanked by single windows. The left window displays exposed brick relieving arches with slate lintel and brick jambs. Three windows occupy the first floor. The left gable features an apex chimney with an attic window left of centre. Remains of a rubblestone retaining wall stand at the south-west corner. The windows are largely 2/2 timber sliding sash with vertical glazing bars, exposed sash boxes, concrete cills, and masonry lintels, though many remain only as vestiges. The rear north elevation is asymmetrically arranged with a boarded-up ground floor window on the left and an infilled window on the right.

The right east gable is abutted by a double-height rubble masonry byre with loft (flooring removed). The byre's south elevation comprises a ground-floor door opening with masonry lintel and an infilled first-floor opening with masonry cill. A single-storey twentieth-century structure with mono-pitched corrugated iron roofing and remains of a sliding door and metal-framed window further abuts the barn.

South of the dwelling stands a perpendicular gabled split-level outbuilding with rubble masonry walling, masonry lintels, and a natural slate roof with cement skews. Its interior features a flagstone-lined drain and exposed machine-sawn ceiling joists carrying the upper floor, with cart access to the upper floor at the rear via the graded landscape. A later single-storey corrugated iron-roofed extension extends to the rear.

The site is characterised by graded landscape and dry-stone walling that has largely remained unaltered. A rubblestone retaining wall stands at the south-west corner. Access is via a track lined with dry-stone walls, bypassing the Legananny Dolmen. A cement-rendered concrete block structure stands to the south-west beyond the property, and the remains of a square rubble masonry pier with capping are visible. Interconnecting paths set into the landscape serve adjacent historic dwellings to the north.

Historical records indicate that buildings shown on the 1833–4 Ordnance Survey map appear to correspond to the present-day dwelling house to the north and the outbuilding to the south. The property was not referenced on the first valuation book of 1834, suggesting it was deemed under rateable value and was probably a fairly modest, possibly single-storey, possibly thatched dwelling at that time. By the second valuation of around 1862, Hugh Lavery occupied the house, leasing it from the Annesley estate at a modest rating of £2. The farm remained with the Lavery family before passing to Owen McMullen, who was resident in 1901 when recorded in the census as a 51-year-old unmarried farmer living with his two sisters, Lucy and Teresa, and their young nephew, Hugh Murray. At this date the house was noted as a first-class slated dwelling with six rooms in use and nine windows in front, suggesting the two-storey structure visible today (though probably without the porch extension) was present by this time. McMullen died around 1905, and the property subsequently passed to John Lavery around 1913 and then to Laurence Conalty Junior around 1918, remaining in the Conalty family until at least 1972. In the early 1930s the house was uninhabited and was redesignated as agricultural outbuildings. However, in 1939 it was renovated for residential use with accommodation comprising a scullery, kitchen, reception room, and three bedrooms. The concrete porch and attached concrete outbuilding were likely added at this time, though the asbestos roof tiles have since been replaced with cement. The house has not been lived in for some time.

Despite twentieth-century modifications, the dwelling retains its vernacular character and layout. The later alterations illustrate the evolving nature of these building types. This is a good surviving example of a small rural cluster that is becoming less common.