The next two houses were once of a larger farm owned by a Padraig Bradley, which wqs split between two brothers, Thomas and John Bradley. The house below would have been built by Thomas Bradley.
This was the last thatched cottage in the Sixtowns. It was a two room cottage with an outshot or cuilte bed at the rear. It remained in perfect condition until Joe died.
1B Janes bef
This house became like this a short time after Joe`s death. When the thatched roof gives in, that is the end always
This house became like this a short time after Joe`s death. When the thatched roof gives in, that is the end always
Now in ruins
Now in ruins
The outhouses are of a simple design, all one storey and joined onto the gable of the cottage. This would have been a fairly common farmstead in Sixtowns on a small holding. Joe`s farm was part of a bigger one which was split between his grandfather and a brother.
Joe was known as `Joe Jane`, after his mother who was widowed when the family were young. The local people tended, for some reason, to refer to a widow`s family by her name or her maiden name. It is not known why this was done. Joe`s father was called Patrick and his grandfather was called Thomas and his great grandfather was Padraig. Patrick and his brother Joe (Thomas) were married to two sisters. Joe married Sarah Lagan. Patrick died while just a young man, after catching pneumonia from a bad wetting while coming home from the Fair in Draperstown. He left a wife, Jane (Lagan) and a young family of three boys, Joe, Tommy and Patrick and three girls, Annie (Doyle), Maggie (Connolly) and Bridget (McNamee)
Joe lived with his brother Tommy and their little cottage was frozen in time until they both passed away. It was a perfect example of the traditional thatched cottage of the Sixtowns. Joe was an expert bread maker and everything about him and Tommy was very tidy at everything which he did. They travelled everywhere on their bikes. You would often see Joe free wheeling on his bike, while puffing away on his beloved pipe as he went.
Unfortunately after Joe died, the thatched roof eventually fell in and that was the end of the house. The outhouses, again, survived because of the metal roofs.