Building Sensitively and Sustainably in County Louth

1. Page 51(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 51 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   BUILDING TRADITION Country Houses (i) 17th century Seventeenth-century country houses are relatively rare in the county. Beaulieu is one of the finest. It was built close to the mouth of the Boyne river in the 1660s. It is said to have been designed by Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul's Cathedral in London. It has a superb setting, with mature oak and beech trees, stone walls, lawns and a small church beside the house. The south side of the house overlooks the Boyne. The estate includes Queensborough, a group of estate houses along the Boyne, which are also of considerable interest. Beaulieu – Entrance view with church alongside Beaulieu – The elevation to the River Boyne

2. Page 52(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 52 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   BUILDING TRADITION Country Houses (ii) 18th-19th century A number of thatched houses of substantial size have survived from over 250 years ago. It is very difficult to date these buildings accurately. The one illustrated, near Ballymascanlon, has 19th-century windows, but it is likely that the openings were enlarged at that time. The house is beautifully proportioned, with a raised garden at the front, screened from the road by mature trees. It is a most attractive example of traditional building in County Louth. The slated farmhouse is at Collon, below the village and close to the river. It has renewed windows, but the form, proportions and doorway suggest that it is a house dating from the early 1700s. The house is simple and long, and has been extended at either side. The elegant Georgian house [page 49] is situated at Queensborough. Its typical Georgian characteristics include the symmetrical five-bay elevation, with diminishing window size at the upper level, and the doorcase with semi-circular fanlight and raised entrance steps. Thatched house near Ballymascanlon Farmhouse at Collon

3. Page 53(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 53 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   BUILDING TRADITION Rural Cottages Pressure to replace thatch with more durable materials has spelled the end of an unbroken tradition of vernacular building. These houses had simple plan-forms, and were found individually, in clusters and in settlements. Buildings had a modest depth of about five metres, and frontages of about eight to ten metres. Outbuildings frequently formed a courtyard or garden to the front. The thatched cottages of farming and fishing families present a rich heritage resource in County Louth. Their simple form, natural roof-covering and unassuming character bed them into the landscape. Often their outbuildings shelter the house from harsh winds, and the roof sweeps low, held at either side by strong verges. The cottages were both single and two-storey, where the upper floor was held within the roofspace, and windows or dormers provided minimal light. During the nineteenth century, slate began to be used for modest houses as well as larger houses, and this gradually replaced thatch as a roofing material. Protection is needed for the remaining cottages, as they are becoming rare in the county. Beautifully maintained cottage in Whitestown Thatched cottage with slated single-storey outbuildings makes a sheltered courtyard in Whitestown. Note the tiny, fringed upperstorey windows.

4. Page 54(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 54 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   BUILDING TRADITION Thatched cottage, Baltray Thatched and slated cottages, Baltray Simple two-up, two-down cottage, Clogherhead opposite Two-storey adjoining thatched cottages in Clogherhead Fringed eaves are shaped around the small upper-storey windows, Clogherhead Thatched fisherman's cottage at Clogherhead. The bold use of colour on external features creates an attractive contrast with the whitewashed walls.

5. Page 55

   Cite this pagePDF p. 55 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)

   No text on this page — it is probably a drawing, a map, a photograph or a scanned page. See it in the PDF.

6. Page 56(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 56 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   BUILDING TRADITION Tenant Cottages Many landlords provided housing for workers on their estates. They would prepare designs or use pattern books to produce architecturally selfconscious buildings, even if they were very modest in size. They contrast with the vernacular building tradition of the other modest rural houses. The two examples shown depict roadside tenants' cottages. Their condition would give rise to fears about their survival. Roadside cottages on the Ardee Road Terraced cottages at Ballymascanlon Fanciful, castellated, through-drive gate lodge at Castlebellingham. Gate lodges were a typical expression of the landlord's wish to announce the architectural quality of the estate at its entrance. Their design varied considerably, from the monumental to the romantic, the design of which was often derived from pattern books of the era.

7. Page 57(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 57 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   Village Houses BUILDING TRADITION Many of the villages were built, or added to, by landlords. In Castlebellingham, the widows' houses are an example of landlord altruism. They were designed in the picturesque style in the Georgian period. The traditional terrace houses, also in Castlebellingham, belong to an earlier period - up to a century before - and are located close to the brewery and maltings. They have steeply pitched roofs and chimney gables. A small front garden sets them back from the road. These houses would have been built with random rubble stone, and faced with lime plaster. They contrast with the use of cut-stone quoins, coursed rubble, brick window reveals, decorative fascias, and the extraordinary chimneys of the widows' houses. Whitewashed village house with sweetscented roses, County Louth Traditional terrace houses in Castlebellingham An example of the widows' houses in Castlebellingham

8. Page 58(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 58 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   BUILDING TRADITION Modern, 20th-century Housing So many houses have been built during the twentieth century that it is difficult to identify types. Unhappily, the continuity of treatment which characterised the traditional buildings, and the discipline with which the classical styles were interpreted were not replicated in the building movements of the twentieth century. The result is a diversity of styles and a wide variation in quality. The examples shown represent only a fragment of types. They are chosen to reflect the quality to be found in an architecture which sought to express its time, yet they are also examples which have contributed to the county by respecting principles of siting and the use of appropriate materials. The round house near Collon is a unique object in the landscape, reminiscent of windmill forms and prominent as the towerhouses. It is a strong statement within an open and rolling landscape, and creates a modern landmark. This is an unusual row of houses in Castlebellingham, set below the road and emphasising the form of the roofs. The design uses the variation created by the form of the garage and the house as a rhythm along the street. Thus, whilst this is a new insertion, it obeys the basic rules of frontage and produces a skillful rhythm which contributes to the village.

9. Page 59(read from a scan)

   Cite this pagePDF p. 59 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
   BUILDING TRADITION Museum at Mellifont Abbey - The proximity to the abbey allowed the reuse of this old farmhouse whilst retaining its simple proportions and form. The extension emphasises its newness through the use of different materials and form. The retention of the mature tree is commendable. This extraordinary juxtaposition of mediaeval and modern on the rise of the hill at Termonfeckin shows two individual and powerful expressions of their time. They have similarities in their handling of form - both have indented and fragmented forms. Neither was designed to blend in with the landscape; the new house was designed as a foil for the old.

10. Page 60(read from a scan)

    Cite this pagePDF p. 60 (opens the publisher’s copy in a new tab)
    BUILDING TRADITION This modern house at Queensborough, Baltray, sits comfortably in a much older landscape setting. This house is located beside the main Drogheda-Dundalk road. It was built about twenty years ago, and extended recently. The form reads as a series of distinct roofs which appear to float above the glass. The building is specific to its site, and by now is well set into the landscape.

Source Louth County Council: Building Sensitively and Sustainably in County Louth · Licence the publisher's termsText read from the publisher’s PDF; tables, maps and drawings do not survive as text, and page numbers are the PDF’s (its first page is 1). Check the original before relying on a passage.