PLANTATION 1600 - 1714

Before the seventeenth century, most dwellings were constructed from timber and mud. Stone was reserved for use on more important buildings such as castles and churches. This map of Armagh in c.1603 is by Bartlett and shows the Early Medieval monastic site, later cathedral and some small houses. Many buildings did not survive the frequent power struggles between feuding families. It was not until the English and Scottish Planters arrived in the seventeenth century that more permanent dwellings were erected, either newly built or extension to stone built castles and fortified houses. These were based on architectural styles imported from England, and northern Europe, with wider windows, decorative stonework and some degree of comfort.

Many of the houses in this map are timber-frame, probably imported through the port of Derry. This type of accommodation was very familiar to the settlers from home; but few survived the seventeenth century as they were difficult to defend and easily burned.

Scottish settlers built the type of houses that they would have built at home. These were simple rectangular towers enriched with steeply pitched roofs, high chimneys, small turrets or bartizans and gabled dormer windows. For defensive purposes they had a bawn which was a walled yard with small corner turrets called flankers.

There are some examples of these early buildings to be seen but many like Joymount in Carrickfergus have disappeared [insert link to Carrickfergus museum or pic of map]. In the case of smaller houses, many of which were timber framed or small thatched dwellings, we rely on maps [insert Mercers settlement in Derry]