As part of the Heritage Angel Awards ceremony at the Guildhall Derry-Londonderry in November 2018, Mrs. Anna Benjamin, owner of Rose Cottage in Derrylin, was presented with an award for 'Best Maintenance of a Rural Thatched Cottage.'

Rose Cottage is a mud-walled thatched cottage just outside Derrylin in Fermanagh. It was built between 1820 and 1835, and was restored by its present owner Anna Benjamin and her family. As a thatched building, the cottage needs regular maintenance to ensure the roof remains watertight, with re-thatching required approximately every ten years.

The layout remains unaltered and care has been taken to retain the style of the roof, the vertically sliding windows and internal detailing including the fireplace. The number of owner-occupied traditional thatched buildings is declining year on year. Anna maintains the building in active use and always provides a warm welcome.

Maintenance Awards were presented to several people and groups who take care of their historic buildings. Maintenance Awards celebrate the owners of historic buildings who care for their buildings day to day. These are not dramatic restoration projects, but rather through their hard work these owners have prevented their buildings from falling into a state where drastic intervention is required. The maintenance awards are led by the Historic Buildings Council and funded by the Department for Communities.

The awards were presented at the event by Marcus Patton, OBE, Chair of the Historic Buildings Council and his colleague Rosie Ford-Hutchinson.