The last thatched cottage

recedite

Not sure if there are any other thatched cottages still around ? There was one in Delgany village a few years ago but it was knocked and rebuilt after a fire. The oldest buildings seem to be generally around Killincarrig/Delgany as Greystones was mostly developed after the coming of the railway.

This one is on Blackberry Lane, across the river and up the hill from the old Delgany village centre, and has been derelict or uninhabited for a couple of years. There is a corrugated iron roof over the original thatch. The walls are built with compacted clay/mud. The roof timbers are interesting, they are rounded poles, as if they were selected and cut from the woods for the job.
Anyway, I took a few photos for posterity as it is due for demolition.

Zoo4m8

'Creech Barrow' just before the convent on the Blacklion Delgany (convent?)road is the only thatched house that I recall at the moment, no idea of its age , once the home of Thelma Mansfield it can hardly be described as a cottage though...
Coincidentally a couple of weeks ago a friend gave me a photo, taken late sixties I think, of Andy Ward's half thatched half corrugated cottage on Hillside rd, gone now of course, mores the pity....I must learn to post pics!

pixbyjohn

Andy, Dickie And Frankie Ward. a blast from the past. Wasn't there another thatched house on the hill up to Bellevue, is it still there?

loyatemu

there's a photo of the thatched Hillside Cottage on the Historical Greystones page on the Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153112508855832&set=gm.424754844343215&type=1&theater

recedite

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

'Creech Barrow' just before the convent on the Blacklion Delgany (convent?)road is the only thatched house that I recall at the moment, no idea of its age , once the home of Thelma Mansfield it can hardly be described as a cottage though...

You can get a glimpse of it from the road, its a lovely house alright. Being two storey and quite ornate, it is not really "the vernacular". Possibly somebody saw the style in England somewhere and wanted to recreate it.
The OSI website is a good resource for looking at old stuff around the area.
Here is the area of the Convent Road thatched house on the OSI viewer.

If you slide the "overlay" bar on the RHS you can compare the modern layout to how it was in the day of the historic 25" map (approx.1897-1923) and also the 6" map (approx. 1829-1841) The thatched house did not exist on either map, but interestingly the one across the road "Thorndale" was there all along, with its ornate formal gardens laid out.
I never really noticed it before, I think its behind a wall along the road, but there is a half-built new structure in its grounds.

The cottage I posted the photos of appears in the 25" map, but not the 6", so it must have appeared some time between 1841 and 1897.

Maudi

Zoo4m8 wrote: »

'Creech Barrow' just before the convent on the Blacklion Delgany (convent?)road is the only thatched house that I recall at the moment, no idea of its age , once the home of Thelma Mansfield it can hardly be described as a cottage though...
Coincidentally a couple of weeks ago a friend gave me a photo, taken late sixties I think, of Andy Ward's half thatched half corrugated cottage on Hillside rd, gone now of course, mores the pity....I must learn to post pics!

Any chance you could stick that pic up zoo4m8
I think I remember that cottage

pixbyjohn

loyatemu wrote: »

there's a photo of the thatched Hillside Cottage on the Historical Greystones page on the Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153112508855832&set=gm.424754844343215&type=1&theater

Maudi wrote: »

Any chance you could stick that pic up zoo4m8
I think I remember that cottage

Just click on the link in loyatemu's post and you will see Andy Ward's house on Ramona's FB page

Zoo4m8

Yep, that's it...hillside farm in the background owned by the Evans family till the early seventies and in the back background Coolagad farm where they moved when they sold up..
Judging by the comments on the FB page lots of people remember Andy and his dogs, he lived in the cottage with his mother, I barely remember her, a lady dressed in black with a black shawl...

Zoo4m8

Recedite..Chris Corlett the author of Wicklow's Traditional Farmhouses used to live in Killincarrig and may still be in the area and for that reason I'd be surprised if he didn't know about this house but on the off chance that he didn't maybe he should be made aware of it?
I have his book here and there is no mention of this cottage, lots very similar though..all very interesting..
There was a feature on him in last weeks Wicklow People I think had contact details, I don't see any in the book,
Anyway, thought I should mention it just in case...

fortwilliam

Rose cottage at the top of Windgates is a very nice example of a Thatch cottage..

pixbyjohn

Creech Barrow by pixbyjohn, on Flickr