Survey Data
Reg No
40504012
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Historical, Social
Original Use
Gates/railings/walls
In Use As
Unknown
Date
1850 - 1855
Coordinates
216800, 411195
Date Recorded
01/12/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Boundary wall associated with the former Letterkenny town corn market, erected 1852, comprising slightly battered roughcast rendered rubble stone wall with rendered brick coping over. Plaque (on rectangular-plan) to east elevation having moulded surround and inset panel with incised lettering reading ‘Letterkenny Market 1852’. Smooth rendered former sign to north end of the east elevation having shouldered corners. Road-fronted to the south-west of the centre of Letterkenny. Gateway to the north end having a pair of smooth rendered gate piers (on square-plan) having corrugated metal sheet double-gates. Collection of single-storey outbuildings to the west having pitched corrugated-metal roofs, rendered walls, and square-headed openings.
Appraisal
This unassuming but imposing section of roughcast rendered boundary wall was originally erected to form the east boundary of the former Letterkenny town corn market and, as such, is an interesting historical reflection of the growth of Letterkenny as an important regional market town during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Its plain form is enhanced by the simple but effective name and date plaque with moulded surround and incised lettering. This simple feature is a significant reminder of the economic, social and commercial history of Letterkenny, and is an interesting feature to the south-west of the centre of the town. Markets were held here every Friday in 1881 and 1894, and on the 8th of each month, excepting Sundays (Slater’s Directory).