Survey Data
Reg No
11803049
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Maynooth Constabulary Barrack
Original Use
House
In Use As
Garda station/constabulary barracks
Date
1780 - 1820
Coordinates
293699, 237637
Date Recorded
01/05/2002
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Pair of end-of-terrace three-bay two-storey houses, c.1800, on a corner site retaining some original fenestration with three-bay two-storey side elevation to north-west. Converted to use as Royal Irish Constabulary Barracks, 1850. Burnt, 1920. Extensively renovated, 1927, with ground floor remodelled to accommodate use as Garda Síochána Station. Hipped roof with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Rendered chimney stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered eaves course. Roughcast walls. Painted. Square-headed window openings (remodelled, 1927, to ground floor). Stone sills. 6/6 timber sash windows (in tripartite arrangement to remodelled openings to ground floor with 2/2 sidelights). 1/1 timber sash windows, 1927, to ground floor. Pair of square-headed door openings (probably reoriented, 1927). Cut-limestone advanced doorcases with moulded cornices. Timber panelled doors. Set back from road in own grounds on a corner site. Tarmacadam drive and lawns to site. Sections of cast-iron railings to boundary.
Appraisal
Maynooth Garda Síochána Station, originally built as two three-bay two-storey houses, is a fine and substantial building that forms an attractive feature on the corner of Leinster Street and Main Street. In use as a Royal Irish Constabulary barracks from the mid nineteenth century, the building was burnt during the 'Troubles' and is therefore of historical significance. Remodelled to ground floor in the early twentieth century to accommodate its current use, the resulting arrangement of openings contrasts with the balanced distribution of the original form to the first floor to create a visually interesting composition. The building nevertheless retains some important early or original features and materials, including multi-pane timber sash fenestration (possibly original to the first floor), and a slate roof with cast-iron rainwater goods, while the cut-stone advanced doorcases are an attractive addition to the design – the appearance of the doorcases is typical of the Board of Works (later the Office of Public Works) style, as evidenced by similar doorcases at the contemporary Kilcock (11802017/KD-05-02-17) and Ballitore (11822021/KD-36-22-21) Garda Síochána Stations.