Survey Data
Reg No
14404403
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social, Technical
Original Use
Workhouse administration block
In Use As
Guest house/b&b
Date
1835 - 1845
Coordinates
297858, 250423
Date Recorded
30/04/2002
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached dressed stone former workhouse master's house, built c.1840, now in use as guest house. Comprising an eight-bay two-storey range, with an advanced gable-fronted single-bay three-storey block attached to the north. Single-storey extensions to rear. Pitched slate roofs with brick chimneystacks, carved timber barge boards, and cast-iron rainwater goods. Limestone ashlar string courses, door surround, and dressings to openings. Some cast-iron diamond paned windows to three-storey block. Limestone ashlar gate piers. Remains of outbuilding to site.
Appraisal
This workhouse master's house serves as a reminder of the work of the Poor Law Unions in housing and caring for the destitute of Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century. The workhouses were built throughout Ireland to similar plans but on different scales to the designs of George Wilkinson following the passing of the Poor Relief (Ireland) Act in 1838. The survival of many original features and materials enhance the architectural form of the building.