Survey Data
Reg No
50080236
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social
Previous Name
Sisters of Charity Convent
Original Use
Convent/nunnery
In Use As
Apartment/flat (converted)
Date
1900 - 1905
Coordinates
313953, 233533
Date Recorded
03/05/2013
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached seven-bay two-storey former convent, built 1904, having advanced gabled central entrance bay, and two-bay advanced gabled breakfront to south of front (east) elevation, chapel attached to north. Now in use as apartments. Pitched artificial slate roofs, hipped to rear, recent rooflights. Rendered chimneystacks. Carved granite kneeler and verge stones to gables. Carved granite cross finial to south gable, metal cross finial to entrance gable. Moulded red brick eaves courses. Red brick walls laid in Flemish bond. Statue on bracketed carved granite plinth with carved granite hood above to south gable. Carved stone quatrefoil panel to entrance gable. Segmental-arched window openings having granite sills, continuous sill course to first floor. Replacement uPVC windows. Segmental-arched door opening having carved granite surround with hood moulding, flanked by polished granite colonnettes with carved sandstone capitals and bases. Timber panelled door with plain overlight approached by granite steps. Set back from street with front enclosed by wrought-iron railings on granite plinths with matching wrought-iron pedestrian entrance gate.
Appraisal
This former convent retains much of its early character and fabric including its overall external form, brickwork, and granite detailing. The extensive use of red brick and the carefully carved statuary enlivens the streetscape. Together with its adjoining chapel it has an imposing presence in the surrounding area which is made up of predominantly industrial and domestic buildings associated with the former city basin, Grand Canal and the nearby Guinness factory. Historic maps show the building as part of a complex which included Saint James' School on the site of the twentieth-century Mater Dei primary school to the north.