12 Ballintemple Road, Cavanhill, Newry, Co. Armagh, BT35 8LQ

12 Ballintemple Road is a modest single-storey vernacular dwelling built around 1930 and located on the south side of Ballintemple Road near Newry. It is constructed of corrugated metal on a concrete plinth, with a pitched corrugated metal roof, central roughcast-rendered chimneystack, cast-iron rainwater goods, and timber eaves board. The building is symmetrically arranged with three bays on its principal north-east-facing elevation, which features a projecting porch with a flat concrete roof flanked by single windows on either side. The door, a timber-sheeted and braced example, was detached and lying on the ground at the time of survey. Windows throughout are vestigial 2/2 timber sliding sashes with horns, set on timber cills. The south-east gable retains the remains of a lean-to store, while the rear elevation has three window openings.

The house retains its original character both externally and internally, with many traditional vernacular details including timber partition walling, braced doors, lime wash, wainscoting, and built-in features. It was reputedly built by the Toner family using funds sent from America by a nun. According to rateable-value records, an earlier farmhouse and outbuildings occupied the same plot to the south-west until around 1930, when this corrugated-iron house likely replaced them. The rateable value increased from £0 10s in 1920 to £1 by 1930, and occupation by Paul and Lewis Murphy is recorded from around 1954.

Corrugated-iron construction rose in popularity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, particularly in rural areas, as it offered economy, ease of transportation, and quick assembly. Though once used widely for domestic dwellings, public halls, and churches, such examples are now increasingly rare. The house is located in its original unspoilt rural setting, situated in open pastureland and surrounded by a rudimentary barbed-wire fence on two sides. Access is via a farm track with a small bridge crossing a stream, off Ballintemple Road. Now abandoned and derelict, it remains a good example of timber-frame vernacular construction and a relatively rare survivor of corrugated-metal domestic architecture.