Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB20/08/020

Address :
Pogue's Entry Historical Cottage 40-54 Church Street Antrim BT41 4BA

Townland:
Town Parks

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Survey 2:
B+

Date of Listing:
10/12/1974 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
Gallery/ Museum

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
Yes

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
Yes

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
96-13 SE

IG Ref:
J1505 8653

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

A single-storey slated gabled building, built of whitened rubble stonework, comprising a pair of semi-detached former cottages, each 2-bay, the one to the north now extending to a small rear return. Entrance faces east. East elevation: single-storey, 4-bay; roof of Bangor blue slates in regular courses; two chimneys, of white painted brickwork, with plain brick cornice; no pots. Walling of rubble stonework with roughly constructed brick block dressings to openings, all painted white except for a black painted plinth which is marked by paintwork only; projecting eaves course. Cast iron gutter and downpipe. Two windows, rectangular timber sliding sash, 6 over 6, without horns, in exposed sash boxes, with projecting cill; the window to the left has a slightly projecting timber surround and lintel; the window to the right has plain reveals, and painted lintel. Both windows have modern security grilles attached. Door to left is rectangular timber tongued and grooved sheeted, with a similarly sheeted half-door mounted in front of it; timber frame; plain reveals; old latch to main door; door bears a sign inscribed 'The Chimney Corner'. Door to right is a modern rectangular ledged timber door; modern metal handle. South elevation is a blank gable of similar walling to front. Rear elevation: single-storey; roof of synthetic slates; cast iron and pvc gutters; cast iron downpipe. Walling is basalt rubble with hand made brick block dressings to one window; modern red brick dressings to left-hand window with similar brick blocking up former opening below present cill line. Left-hand window in main wall is a modern rectangular metal casement, of 4 panes; set in plain reveals; concrete lintel. Right-hand window in main wall is rectangular timber sliding sash, vertically hung, 6 over 6, without horns, with exposed sash box, set in plain reveals; rubble stone cill roughly cement rendered. Short rear return is of modern red brick; flat roof of asphalt; smooth cement rendered reveals and cill; pvc gutter. Window in rear return is rectangular timber sliding sash, 4 over 4, with horns. SETTING: The building stands facing a cobbled courtyard reached by a narrow cobbled passageway or entry leading from the public pavement on the main street. Passageway or entry from pavement comprises two rubble stone walls containing an iron gate at the front, of traditional flat bar type, and carrying a pergola roof of dark stained shaped timber joists. To each side of the stone-walled entry is a small recessed courtyard opening off the pavement, surfaced with concrete pavings. Court to left is contained to the east by the red brick gable of an adjoining building; while the rear screen wall is of basalt rubble with concrete coping, containing a rectangular window opening filled with a flat bar ironwork grille; timber bench seat on basalt rubble base; four concrete bollards across front of court. Court to right is contained to the west by the rendered gable of an adjoining building, while the rear screen wall is of basalt rubble with concrete coping; bench seat as previous; one mature tree; two concrete bollards to front. Entry leads to a cobbled courtyard behind the screen walls; rear side of screen walls partly exposed rubble and partly white painted. Cobbled courtyard slopes down beyond a low rubble stone wall to rear garden, grassed, with flowerbeds and mature trees; rubble stone boundary walls to rear garden and to courtyard, with a narrow blind alley behind the single storey cottage between it and the boundary wall to the west. East side of courtyard occupied by a 2-storey building with a single-storey extension. TWO-STOREY BUILDING ON EAST SIDE OF COURTYARD: actually a building of 2-storey appearance only, with a single-storey extension to the south; main entrances face west. West elevation: 2-storey appearance; roof slated; one chimney, of white painted brick with concrete cornice; one red stub pot. Walling is white painted brickwork with a black painted plinth marked by paintwork only; projecting eaves course; cast iron gutter and downpipes. Consists of a flat roofed 2-bay projection to left and a set-back 6-bay pitched roof block to right extending to a lower single storey flat roofed block at the right-hand extremity. Left-hand projection: walling of rubble stone with brick block dressings, all white painted; concrete coping. Two windows to ground floor: left-hand one is a large rectangular timber fixed light of 15 panes set in a timber surround; right-hand one is a rectangular timber sliding sash, 6 over 6, with horns, set in exposed sash boxes in plain reveals, with flat arch head. Above in first floor area is a small timber fixed light, 6-pane, but it does not illuminate a room. Pitched block: 6-bay, 2-storey appearance; roof of what looks like synthetic slates in regular courses. Wall of white painted brickwork with black painted plinth marked by paintwork only; projecting eaves course; cast iron gutter and downpipe. Three doors, rectangular timber tongued and grooved sheeted, but the one to the extreme left has the sheeting mounted on a panelled door; second door from left is a dummy door only, fitted to the wall. Three windows to ground floor, rectangular timber, sliding sash, 6 over 6, with horns, set in exposed sash boxes; plain reveals. Three windows to first floor, as previous to first floor, but they do not illuminate any rooms. South gable: timber barge boards; walling of white painted brickwork; two windows at high level, rectangular metal top-hung. Projecting at ground level is a single-storey block with flat roof, concrete with asphalt covering. Walling as previous. Three windows modern rectangular metal top-hung; concrete cills.

Architects

Hanna, Denis O'D

Historical Information

Precise date of building not recorded but it is reputed to date from the 18th century; it appears on the OS map of 1832. The adjacent two-storey block to the east dates from the 19th century; it appears on the OS map of 1857. Originally there were two buildings screening the yard of the entry from the street but both have been removed, possibly at the time of the restoration scheme by Dennis O'D. Hanna in 1961; it was presumably then that the stone walled forecourt and modern entrance gateway was created. Pogue's Entry was originally called Adair's Entry and was one of a number of 'entries' leading off Church Street where the labouring classes lived in Antrim. Pogue's Entry became famous by the fact that it was the setting for the best-selling book 'My Lady of the Chimney Corner' published in 1913. Its author Dr Alexander Irvine (1863-1941) was born nearby in an adjacent entry called Rooney's, later called Scott's, but grew up in Adair's Entry. He achieved fame as the writer of many books and articles as the minister of the Church of the Ascension, New York, the so-called "millionaires church" on Fifth Avenue, and as a romantic socialist visionary. During World War I he was the chief morale officer of the Allies at the front. Among his friends were the American novelist Jack London, George Russell, Einstein, Madame Curie, Mark Twain, and J.M. Barrie. His sequel to 'My Lady of the Chimney Corner', called 'The Souls of Poor Folk', published in 1921 also added to the fame of Pogue's Entry. On 29 September 1934 the celebrated cottage was officially opened to the public at a ceremony presided over by the Viscount Massereene and Ferrard, with the intention that "this humble dwelling may be kept intact and unspoiled by time or circumstance, to bear silent and eloquent witness to the great love that dwelt there, and to the affection and reverence that a son of Antrim has for his mother" (Irvine's mother Anna having been the subject of 'My Lady of the Chimney Corner'). References – Primary Sources 1. OS Map 1832, Co Antrim 50. 2. OS Map 1857, Co Antrim 50. Secondary Sources 1. UAHS, Antrim and Ballymena (Belfast, 1969), p 9. 2. A. Smyth, The Story of Antrim (Antrim, 1984), pp 67-69, 74, 86-88, 101. 3. J. Hanna, Old Antrim (Catrine, Ayrshire, 2002), p 27.

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion C. Ornamentation D. Plan Form H-. Alterations detracting from building I. Quality and survival of Interior J. Setting K. Group value

Historic Interest

V. Authorship Z. Rarity X. Local Interest

Evaluation

This is a restored single-storey cottage of probably 18th century date, of vernacular type, with an earthen floor, which has been preserved since 1934 as a museum and memorial to the famed Antrim author Dr Alexander Irvine (1863-1941), who spent his childhood in the cottage and whose best-selling book 'My Lady of the Chimney Corner', published in 1913, was set in the cottage and its entry, Irvine's mother Anna being the 'Lady' of the title. The cottage is not only of special interest due to its historical associations, but as a museum exhibit open to the public on a seasonal basis it also serves to illustrate a typical example of a very modest cottage of vernacular type in an urban setting, while the entry itself, flanked by former dwellings on two sides, is a rare survivor of a type of narrow lane or alleyway which was once common in this part of the town.

General Comments

Date of Survey

06 November 2004