Re: Re: ‘Dutch Billys’

We haven’t had a good row about twin ‘Billys’ in a while;)

Another look at nos. 119 [Paddy] and no. 120 [Whelan] Cork Street.

Without getting information on the interior, we still can’t provide conclusive evidence that no. 120 was a twin gabled house, but from an examination of the exterior, it is substantially an early 18th century structure, it has a basement, the return is original, if now slightly reduced with a lean-to roof, the brickwork and rear window fragments are consistent with a house of the ‘Billy’ period and, though the pitch of the roofs has been lowered, the twin volume is there for all to see.

No. 119 is semi-derelict and the roof is missing and the front and back walls have been re-newed in 19th/20th century brickwork, but it too was probably a gabled house and some of the original beams, with their characteristic small square joist notching, can still be seen through holes in the wall.