Drop the Tea and the Haitch
Donegal County Council’s 2020 Ramelton Action Plan prepared by Dedalus Architecture of Moville states, “Ramelton is a town of significant built, social and cultural heritage with a unique regional character and comparable in quality to the most visited historic places in Ireland. The current town was founded as a Plantation settlement in the early 1600s by Sir William Stewart of Ayrshire on the site of an O’Donnell castle.” Sir William built Tullyaughnish Reformation Church on the edge of the town, now a scenic ruin. Dr Finola O’Kane of University College Dublin ruminates, “Ruins in Ireland have always been political in light of the country’s history.”
In his 2021 essay Beyond Pastness: Reuse in Ramelton, Gary Hamilton argues, “In the picturesque town of Ramelton, located in the northwest of Ireland, a hulking set of warehouses on The Quays are a tactile reminder of what this place used to be. In stone, shale, and concrete, they tell a story about the past: of bustling trade, industrialisation, and prosperity in rural parts of the country. After decades of dereliction, some of the warehouses have been recently repurposed into a heritage centre, a café, and even apartments. Two, however, remain in a state of decay, and one is on the brink of collapse. The tourism economy values the ‘pastness’ of rural Ireland, but preserving that pastness has the effect of consigning towns to a state of perpetual limbo.”
Lo, the tide was turning. The following year Donegal County Council was awarded the Chambers Ireland 2022 Excellence in Local Government Award for Heritage and Built Environment for an urban scale conservation project in Ramelton. A 2019 audit had demonstrated a high rate of vacancy (13 percent), dereliction (seven percent) and buildings at risk (20 structures). The Council worked with the local community to reverse this advancing decay and repair 14 of the historic buildings.
Most visible is the restoration of The House on the Brae in the centre of the town. Council funding was the catalyst for Ramelton Georgian Society bringing this 1760s building back to life for community use. In 2025, the restoration is nearing completion. The House appears on Bridge Street as a modest two storey over basement rendered block with very wide windows on the first floor. Generously proportioned window openings are a feature of 18th century houses in the town, possibly to maximise natural light for linen weavers at work. The House falls dramatically to the rear towards the riverside Shore Road, revealing its three storey plus attic full extent. Ramelton Georgian Society plans to reinstate a two storey block along Shore Road, enclosing the rear garden of The House on the Brae.
Shore Road continues eastwards, becoming The Quays. Mill House is located at the sharp right angle of Shore Road elbowing into the River Leannan. It’s a tall, darkish and handsome 1840s three bay three storey villa faced with random rubblestone and cornered by squared smooth stone quoins. A shallow fanlight stretches over the entrance door and sidelights framed by Tuscan columns and pilasters. A hipped roof resting on eaves is fully exposed: this is a parapet free town. Mill House backs on to some of the restored and converted warehouses.
At the western end of the town, yet more gorgeous buildings are clustered around Bridge End where the River Leannan narrows and is crossed by Ramelton Bridge. The Tannery backs onto the river and was converted to apartments in 2000. Built in the late 19th century, it’s an impressive 13 bay three storey block. Coursed and square rubble limestone walls with flush squared rubblestone quoins produce a grand vernacular.
Set at a right angle to The Tannery is The Green, a country house and estate in miniature. Three bay two bay symmetrical perfection overlooks – as its name suggests – a large green. The house was built circa 1830 for James Watt, the owner of a linen bleach mill, now demolished. An Ionic distyle porch framing the entrance door with its fanlight provides the decorative highlight to the simply elegant smooth rendered with limestone plinth façade. A hipped slate roof completes the simple outline. The main block is three bays deep and is elongated by later return wings.
On the brow of the hill heading out of Ramelton and looking down over The Tannery, Bridge Bar Restaurant is the quintessential Irish pub. A slightly asymmetrical five bay two storey pebbledashed façade is quirkily enlivened by red shutters, red quoins and a red entrance door. it’s colourful and lively, just as a pub should be. This tour is but the icing on the cake that is the architectural treat of Ramelton. There are many rich layers to explore of the heritage of sweet unique town. Ramelton is no longer in perpetual limbo: pastness has a present and a future.
