Survey Data
Reg No
40843017
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
Royal Bank of Ireland originally Belfast Bank
Original Use
Bank/financial institution
In Use As
Bank/financial institution
Date
1860 - 1880
Coordinates
192887, 378389
Date Recorded
11/09/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached five-bay two-storey bank, built c.1875, having carved stone (former) balcony over central doorway to the main elevation (east). Single-storey flat-roofed extension to the rear (west). Hipped artificial slate hidden behind raised parapet with moulded coping over. Moulded cut stone eaves cornice. Two rendered chimneystacks, aligned parallel to roof ridge, having render cornice detailing. Ashlar sandstone construction over moulded plinth course; moulded cut stone stringcourse at first floor level. Ashlar balcony over main doorway having moulded cut stone console brackets supporting cut stone lintel over; railings/parapet now removed. Roughcast render to rear elevation (west). Round-headed window openings at ground floor level having cut stone architraves with keystone detail, cut stone sills with cut stone brackets, and having one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows; square-headed window openings at first floor level having moulded ashlar reveals, cut stone sills with cut stone brackets, and having one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows. Window opening to the north end of the main elevation (east) at ground floor level now altered with insertion of ATM machine. Central round-headed doorway to the main elevation (east) having moulded cut stone architraved surround with keystone detail, carved cut stone foliate decoration to spandrels to door head, carved cut stone plinth blocks (on quadrant profile) having foliate decoration, and having modern glass doors and overlight. Cut stone step to entrance. Timber architrave to internal doorway inside of entrance hall. Road-fronted to the south-west side of the Diamond, Donegal Town.
Appraisal
This good-quality, well-proportioned and imposing Italianate-style mid-nineteenth century bank building retains its original form and much of its architectural character despite some alteration at ground floor level. The imposing nature of this structure is in keeping with its purpose-built function as a bank. It is well-built in high-quality ashlar sandstone masonry with some sophisticated cut stone detailing, particularly to the former balcony, the openings, and eaves cornice, and the stringcourse. The round-headed openings to the ground floor almost creates the impression of an arcade, and is a feature found on many bank buildings of its date in Ireland. It has a commanding presence in the streetscape, reflecting the period when bank buildings were designed to express the solidity and wealth of the institution through their architecture. This building was originally constructed as a branch of the Belfast Bank (in existence in 1881; indicated as ‘Belfast Bank’ on map c. 1900) but it may have been a branch of the Royal Bank of Ireland at some stage. Slater’s Directory of 1894 records that this branch of the Belfast Bank ‘draws on the Union Bank, London’. The original architect is not known. This fine classical building is one of the principal elements of the built heritage of The Diamond, Donegal Town, and makes a strongly positive contribution to the streetscape at the centre of the town.