Survey Data
Reg No
60230136
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
The Cedars originally Belville
Original Use
House
Historical Use
Convent/nunnery
In Use As
Hospital/infirmary
Date
1800 - 1837
Coordinates
323294, 226643
Date Recorded
12/04/2016
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached three-bay single-storey over part raised basement house, extant 1837, on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay full-height breakfront on an engaged half-octagonal plan with (single-storey) prostyle distyle portico to ground floor. Sold, 1916, to accommodate alternative use. Renovated. Hipped double-pile (M-profile) slate roof behind parapet with concealed rainwater goods retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Rendered, ruled and lined walls on cut-granite chamfered cushion course on rendered, ruled and lined base with "Cyma Recta"- or "Cyma Reversa"-detailed cornice supporting panelled parapet having iron-covered coping. Segmental-headed central door opening behind (single-storey) prostyle distyle portico approached by flight of eight cut-granite steps with moulded surround framing replacement glazed timber door having roundel-detailed overlight. Square-headed flanking window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins. Square-headed opening (first floor) with moulded surround framing glazed timber double doors having margins. Square-headed window openings (ground floor) with cut-granite sills, and moulded surrounds with "Cyma Recta"- or "Cyma Reversa"-detailed pediments on fluted consoles framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing six-over-six timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (first floor) with cut-granite sills, and moulded surrounds framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing three-over-three timber sash windows. Set in relandscaped grounds.
Appraisal
A villa-like house representing an integral component of the domestic built heritage of south County Dublin with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the compact plan form centred on a polygonal breakfront showing a modified pillared portico; the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression; and the parapeted roofline: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or "improvement" of the house for the congregation of the Sisters of Mercy with those works including an adjoining chapel erected ("1916") to designs by William Henry Byrne and Son (formed 1902) of Suffolk Street, Dublin (DIA). Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior including 'a most attractive oval entrance hall with an inlaid floor' (Pearson 1998, 148): however, the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of a house having historic connections with Lieutenant-Colonel Henry C. Cash (1790-1843) of the Queen's Royal Regiment (Lewis 1837 II, 116; The United Service Magazine 1843 I, 480); and Sir John Barrington (1824-87), Lord Mayor of Dublin (fl. 1865; 1879; Gaskin 1866, 472).