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The Piltown Family Home

William Phelan and Johanna Durney moved from nearby Jamestown into Piltown in the 1830s. The layout of the farm changed little in the following 150 years. Below is an extract from the Ordnance Survey map of the 1860s, where the house, upper orchard, barn field, cow house and pigsty are clearly visible. (Piltown was frequently spelled Pilltown in the nineteenth century).

The photograph alongside shows the same buildings largely unchanged in the 1960s. The Phelans were comfortably off by the standard of the times. They extended the house at The Tower by adding a “back” kitchen and dairy. They converted the old stable into a parlour. They also built the cow house and hen houses. These renovations appear to have been carried out before 1850 as the valuation records do not change the valuation of the buildings between 1850 and 1920. The attractive nature of the houses in Piltown was commented on in Bassett’s guide[2]:

The picture alongside, taken in 1947, shows the house largely unchanged from the nineteenth century. Ellen’s beloved dog Tippo appears in the photo, with Ellen’s daughter Jennie. Although the house has the appearance of a cottage from the front, this is deceptive; there is extensive dormer sleeping accommodation on the first floor under the roof.

The Tower

The house address has always been “Tower Hill” after the Ponsonby Tower which dominates the western entrance to the village. This memorial tower was begun by the third Earl of Bessborough as a monument to a son presumed to have perished in the Peninsular War (1808 – 14), but abandoned on his safe return from battle (left). According to the official architectural description1, “a severe Gothic style conveys a dour tone appropriate to a funereal monument with the austere quality of the composition heightened by the series of blind openings on each level” i.e. it's ugly! It remained incomplete until the 1950s when the top stage was added to enable it to be used as a water tower (right).