Historic Building Details

HB Ref No:
HB05/04/015

Address :
17 Murlough Road Murlough Bay Ballycastle Co. Antrim BT54 6RG

Townland:
Goodland

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Survey 2:
B2

Date of Listing:
06/12/1978 00:00:00

Date of De-listing:

Current Use:
House

Former Use
House

Conservation Area:
No

Industrial Archaeology:
No

Vernacular:
No

Thatched:
No

Monument:
No

Derelict:
No

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OS Map No:
9/7NE

IG Ref:
D1991 4191

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Owner Category

Exterior Description And Setting

Detached six-bay single-storey with attic rendered house, built c.1830. Rectangular on plan facing northeast with projecting front entrance porch. Set at the end of Murlough Road overlooking Murlough Bay. Pitched artificial slate roof with black clay ridge tiles extended to the rear pitch over rear extension and cement coping to either gable end. Four capped rough-cast cement rendered chimneystacks with lead flashing. Cast-iron guttering on iron brackets and cast-iron downpipes. Painted rough-cast cement rendered walling with smooth cement rendered plinth course. Square-headed window openings with painted concrete sills and replacement multi-pane double-glazed top-hung timber casement windows. Asymmetrical single-storey front elevation with off-centre gable-fronted entrance porch having segmental-headed window opening to the front and square-headed door opening to the right cheek with replacement sheeted timber door. Low level rendered wall abuts northeast corner. Gabled single-storey southeast side elevation with a large square-headed window opening and a further smaller window opening to the left. Multi-bay single-storey rear elevation with lean-to extension spanning the right half of the elevation having diminutive window openings and aluminium skylights to the roof. Two-storey southwest gabled side elevation with a pair of diminutive window openings at attic level having replacement four-pane timber casement windows. Roof Fibre cement tiles RWG Cast-iron Walling Painted rough-cast cement render Windows Replacement timber casement Setting: Set at the end of Murlough Road overlooking Murlough Bay within a publicly accessible park desgnated a Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI 330). A small rubblestone outbuilding, with raised skews and natural slate roof is located southeast of the house; originally used as pig house.

Architects

Historical Information

No. 17 Murlough Road, a one-and-a-half-storey house located along the coast in the townland of Goodland, was constructed prior to 1832. The building, which is also known as Murlough Cottage, was recorded on the first edition Ordnance Survey map (1832) as a simple rectangular-shaped structure. The accompanying Townland Valuations (c. 1834) did not include details on the structure as there were no buildings in the townland worth the £3 per annum minimum required for inclusion in that source. Murlough Cottage was first recorded in detail in the mid-19th century by Griffith’s Valuation (1859) which set the total rateable value of the building at 10 shillings and noted that the site was leased by the Earl of Antrim to Daniel Clarke, a local farmer. The Clarke family continued to reside at Murlough Cottage for a period of at least seventy years. In 1901 the Census of Ireland recorded that the site was occupied by Daniel Clarke (son of the previous occupant) and his two siblings. The accompanying census building return described Murlough Cottage as a 2nd class dwelling that consisted of nine rooms and possessed a stable, two cow houses, a piggery and a barn amongst its outbuildings. The third edition Ordnance Survey map (1904) records that the cottage had been lengthened since the mid-19th century and possessed a number of minor outbuildings to its north-west side. The cottage had passed to James Stewart, a local farmer, by the First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57). The valuer maintained the value of the cottage at 10 shillings and noted that Stewart had purchased the site outright from the Earl of Antrim. A Mrs Mary McCloy occupied Murlough Cottage in c. 1945 and continued to reside at the site until at least the end of the Second General Revaluation (1956-72) at which time the value of the dwelling had been raised to £2 and 15 shillings (with the site’s outbuildings and other herediments valued at £9 and 10 shillings). In 1972 the UAHS publication for the Glens of Antrim remarked that Murlough Cottage was not in itself architecturally significant but, along with the farmhouse at Knockbrack (HB05/04/011), it possessed ‘enormous importance as simple and traditional ingredients in one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in Ireland’ (UAHS p. 54). Murlough Cottage was listed in 1978. References Primary Sources 1. PRONI OS/6/1/5/1 – First Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1832) 2. PRONI OS/6/1/5/2 – Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1855) 3. PRONI OS/6/1/5/3 – Third Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1904) 4. PRONI OS/6/1/5/4 – Fourth Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1922) 5. PRONI VAL/1/A/1/5 – Townland Valuation Map (c. 1834) 6. PRONI VAL/1/B/133 – Townland Valuations (c. 1834) 7. PRONI VAL/2/B/1/27A – Griffith’s Valuation (c. 1859) 8. PRONI VAL/12/B/2/11A-F – Annual Revisions (1864-1929) 9. PRONI VAL/3/C/1/5 – First General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1936-57) 10. PRONI VAL/4/B/1/11 – Second General Revaluation of Property in Northern Ireland (1956-72) 11. Ulster Town Directories (1861-1918) 12. Census of Ireland (1901; 1911) 13. First Survey Record – HB05/04/015 (1972) 14. NIEA HB Records – HB05/04/015 Secondary Sources 1. Brett, C. E. B., ‘List of historic buildings, groups of buildings and areas of architectural importance in the Glens of Antrim’ Belfast: Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, 1972. Online Sources 1. https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA160720; accessed 08/06/2016 2. https://heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/HBSMR/MonRecord.aspx?uid=MNA124261; accessed 08/06/2016

Criteria for Listing

Architectural Interest

A. Style B. Proportion H-. Alterations detracting from building J. Setting

Historic Interest

R. Age S. Authenticity T. Historic Importance X. Local Interest

Evaluation

Detached four-bay single-storey with attic rendered house, built c.1830. Situated overlooking a secluded beach at Murlough Bay, west of Fairhead. Although some internal features and original finishes have been lost as a consequence of modernisation, it remains well proportioned with modest detailing typical of a rural dwelling from this period. A plain calm building, pleasantly simple, with an attractive asymmetrical facade. Painted white, with base plinth, multi-paned windows, doors and rainwater goods contrasted in black; five simple chimney pots at roof level create a sense of rhythm and a simple gabled entrance porch is off-centred on the main facade. The house is significantly enhanced by its idyllic coastal setting and a diminutive rubblestone outbuilding located to the southeast, reputed to be a pig house or hen house originally, adds further interest.

General Comments

The building is located within an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI 330).

Date of Survey

13 June 2015