Survey Data
Reg No
12000165
Rating
National
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Kilkenny College
Original Use
College
In Use As
Town/county hall
Date
1780 - 1785
Coordinates
250945, 155919
Date Recorded
16/06/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached seven-bay (eight-bay deep) three-storey college, built 1782-4, on a U-shaped plan. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Closed, 1985. Extended, 1994, to accommodate alternative use. Hipped slate roof on a quadrangular plan behind parapet centred on lantern-topped hipped slate roof (west), clay ridge tiles, rendered chimney stacks on axis with ridge having cut-limestone stepped capping supporting terracotta pots, and concealed rainwater goods to front (east) elevation with replacement uPVC rainwater goods (remainder) on rendered eaves. Part creeper- or ivy-covered replacement rendered wall to front (east) elevation on dragged cut-limestone ogee cushion course on dragged cut-limestone plinth with drag edged rusticated cut-limestone quoins to corners supporting balustraded parapet on dragged cut-limestone beaded cornice on blind frieze; replacement rendered surface finish (remainder) on cut-limestone chamfered plinth. Round-headed central door opening with two tessellated limestone flagged cut-limestone steps, drag edged dragged cut-limestone doorcase with pilasters on padstones supporting ogee-detailed cornice on "Patera"-detailed fluted frieze, and concealed dressings framing timber panelled door having stained glass sidelights below fanlight. Square-headed window openings (ground floor) with dragged cut-limestone sill course, and dragged cut-limestone surrounds framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (first floor) with dragged cut-limestone sill course, and dragged cut-limestone surrounds framing six-over-six timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (top floor) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and dragged cut-limestone surrounds framing three-over-three timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with drag edged dragged cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six or three-over-three (top floor) timber sash windows. Interior remodelled, 1994. Set in relandscaped grounds.
Appraisal
A college erected to designs by Charles Vierpyl (----) of Dublin (DIA) representing an important component of the later eighteenth-century built heritage of Kilkenny with the architectural value of the composition, one occupying the site of an earlier college established (1667) by James Butler (1610-88), confirmed by such attributes as the symmetrical footprint centred on a Classically-detailed doorcase not only demonstrating good quality workmanship in a silver-grey limestone, but also showing a lace-like "peacock tail" fanlight attributable to Joseph Lowe (----) of Dublin; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the balustraded roof. Having been well maintained, the form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original or replicated fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of a college making a pleasing visual statement overlooking the gently winding River Nore. NOTE: A roll call of famous past pupils includes Jonathan Swift (1667-1745); Bishop George Berkeley (1685-1753); the novelist John Banim (1798-1842); Archbishop William Connor Magee (1821-91); and Admiral David Beatty (1871-1936) who commanded the first Battlecruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland (1916).