Survey Data
Reg No
50070205
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Sisters Of Charity Convent
Original Use
Convent/nunnery
In Use As
Apartment/flat (converted)
Date
1865 - 1875
Coordinates
314521, 234891
Date Recorded
02/11/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached twelve-bay three-storey former convent, built 1870, now in use as sheltered housing. Central two-bay gabled breakfront to front (south) elevation, full-height extensions to east and west elevations and to rear. Pitched slate roof with granite coping having cast-iron cross finials, clay ridge tiles, yellow brick chimneystacks, cast-iron rainwater goods and carved white brick eaves course. Granite cross finial to pedimented bay to front. Pedimented limestone belfry, cross finial to top, to west elevation. Yellow brick, laid in Flemish bond, to front elevation, granite platbands at sill level to ground, first and second floors, black brick string course below sill course to ground floor, black and white brick platband at impost level to ground and first floors. Alternating recessed bays to front elevation, render to apex of breakfront, statue of Our Lady on pedestal. Dressed calp limestone walls to rear (north) and west elevations, limestone block-and-start quoins, smooth render to ground floor to rear and to part of west elevation, render plinth course to west elevation. Square-headed window openings to second floor to front elevation, stepped brick voussoirs, render sills and one-over-one pane timber sash windows. Segmental-arched window openings to first floor, chamfered black and yellow brick voussoirs having granite stops and sills and one-over-one pane timber sash windows. Pointed arch window openings to ground floor, chamfered yellow and black brick voussoirs, granite sills and one-over-one pane timber sash windows. Windows paired to breakfront. Square-headed window openings to rear and west elevations, red brick voussoirs, block-and-start surrounds, granite sills and timber sash windows: three-over-three pane to second floor, six-over-six pane to first floor, nine-over-nine pane to first floor to west elevation, six-over-three pane to ground floor to west elevation, segmental-arched window opening to ground floor to west elevation, red brick voussoirs and surround, granite sill and tripartite timber sash window comprising nine-over-three pane window flanked by sidelights. Pointed arch door opening, yellow and black brick chamfered voussoirs, stepped reveal and timber panelled door with tripartite overlight, flanked by square-headed window openings having chamfered granite lintels and sills, black brick voussoirs over. Dressed limestone boundary walls with limestone capping to north and north-west of site, square-headed door opening to north-west, red brick block-and-start surround, timber battened door. Inscribed render fascia over: ‘ST. JOSEPH’S/THE STANHOPE ST./CONVENT NATIONAL SCHOOLS’.
Appraisal
Designed by G.C. Ashlin for the Sisters of Charity, this building was remodelled c.1990 for Focus Ireland. It displays features typical of the Gothic revival architecture of its time, which are particularly prevalent in ecclesiastical buildings, including a steeply gabled breakfront and tall chimneystacks. The regular form of the façade is enhanced by the central pedimented bay, which provides a sense of symmetry, and is enlivened by polychrome brick and granite dressings. It retains several ecclesiastical features, including a statue to the front, and several cross finials, which provide artistic interest. The convent forms part of a group of related structures with the school to the north and the new convent.