Survey Data
Reg No
15310075
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Westmeath County Gaol
Original Use
Building misc
In Use As
Office
Date
1820 - 1830
Coordinates
243759, 252831
Date Recorded
07/07/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached five-bay two-storey building formerly associated with Mullingar Jail (15310078), built c.1825. Originally two semi-detached buildings but now joined in a single unit. Now in use as county council offices associated with County Buildings (15310076). Pitched slate roof with a projecting cut stone eaves course and stone chimneystacks. Constructed of roughly dressed limestone over a chamfered plinth. Square-headed window openings with cut limestone dressings and replacement windows. Square-headed doorway to the south end of the main façade having a replacement door and with a projecting limestone lintel over separating door for a square-headed overlight with iron security bars. Set back from road to the southwest corner of Mount Street with County Buildings adjacent to the east. Adjacent to the north is the site of a former graveyard associated with the jail.
Appraisal
A robust and well-built early nineteenth-century building formerly associated with Mullingar Jail (15310078). It retains much of its early character and form despite alterations over the years. This building was originally built as a pair of semi-detached buildings, later joined. The window opening to the north end of the front façade (southeast) was probably originally a doorway. This building may have been built as jail warders houses. However, the former burial ground to the north end hints that this may have been the infirmary with separate apartments for male and female inmates, which is mentioned in an 1837 description of the jail. This building forms part of an interesting and historically important collection of structures associated with the former Mullingar Jail complex and is a important element of the built heritage and social history of the local area.