Here we again have two houses which were built when the farm was split between two brothers, Patrick and Roger Bradley.
This house was the original family house of Hugh Bradley, which was inherited by one of his sons, Patrick. The dwelling house is one storey while the adjoining byre and two storey. It must have taken quite a bit of skill to construct these buildings with local stone which was scarce and not really very suitable for building with. Much of it would be river stone which would be oval in shape and difficult to knit into a wall.The iron roof replacement ensured that the building survived longer, after it was abandoned. There was a fine slated roof on the barn. Lack of maintenance over time, caused it to eventually collapse.The traditional barn steps can be seen. The house was abandoned in 1947 when the last of the Pat Paddys, Patsy, left to live with his brother Jamie`s family in Coleraine.
This is a cottage with a byre and barn attached, as well as other outhouses. On the extreme right is a stable for the horse. The outhouses would have been thatched, hence the loss of roofs. The barn survived for quite a time but the dwelling house with its metal roof, was still intact when the photo was taken in 1970.
The last family to have been reared in this house was that of Pat Bradley (Pat Paddy) and his wife, Annie, who had ten children. Some went to America and never came back while others stayed in the country and prospered in the pub trade. The family had bought the bar which is now the Shepherd`s Rest around 1910 and then sold it to Michael Doyle in 1930. There for, the family members were well schooled in the bar trade by the time they left home.Kathleen and Teresa worked in a bar in Omagh. Teresa married a bus driver called Rodgers and settled in the town while Kathleen moved to Monaghan where she ran a pub.James went to America for a while and then came home to buy a pub in Killowen, Coleraine. He reared his family there and did well. Hugh went to Belfast where he also got into the bar trade. His family still live in Belfast.
It is ironic that 80 years or so after these Bradleys sold their pub to the Doyles, that two of their off springs would be working on the delivery lorry, bringing drink supplies to the Shepherd`s Rest bar.
Another irony is that a grandson og Hughie Bradley`s, Mark Bradley, would be travelling to work in the offices of Heron Bros. in Draperstown in 2023.
Mary Bradley went to England to work and made her home there. Her daughter Jo and husband came over to Sixtowns a few years ago to search for her roots here and arrived at the Shepherd`s Rest. She was pleasantly astonished that her family once owned the place.