Survey Data
Reg No
31311108
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Original Use
Station master's house
In Use As
House
Date
1890 - 1895
Coordinates
126827, 266531
Date Recorded
11/12/2010
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey railway station master's house, opened 1892; extant 1893; occupied 1901, on a T-shaped plan with single-bay (four-bay deep) single-storey central return (west). Closed, 1959. Renovated to accommodate continued private residential use. Replacement pitched artificial slate roofs on a T-shaped plan with clay ridge tiles, paired red brick Running bond central chimney stacks having stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards retaining cast-iron downpipes. Tuck pointed snecked rock faced limestone walls with red brick quoins to corners. Square-headed central door opening with red brick block-and-start surround framing glazed timber panelled door. Square-headed window openings with cut-limestone sills, and red brick block-and-start surrounds framing replacement timber casement windows replacing one-over-one or two-over-two timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central entrance hall-cum-staircase hall with limestone flagged floor, carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors, and timber boarded or tongue-and-groove timber panelled staircase on a dog leg plan with timber balusters supporting timber banister terminating in timber newels; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled splayed reveals or shutters. Set in landscaped grounds.
Appraisal
A railway station master's house identified as an integral component of the late nineteenth-century built heritage of south County Mayo on account of the connections with the development of the Claremorris and Ballinrobe Branch of the Midland Great Western Railway (MGWR) line (opened 1892) by the Ballinrobe and Claremorris Light Railway Company (formed 1884; absorbed 1924) with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the compact plan form centred on an understated doorcase; the rock faced surface finish offset by red brick dressings producing an appealing palette; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression. Having been reasonably well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior: the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings, however, has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of the composition. Nevertheless, a goods shed (extant 1893) continues to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a neat self-contained ensemble having historic connections with a succession of station masters including Patrick Smyth (b. 1836), 'Station Master' (NA 1901); and James McDonnagh (b. 1850), 'Station Master' (NA 1911).