Survey Data
Reg No
60260100
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Rathdown Union Workhouse
Original Use
Convent/nunnery
In Use As
Office
Date
1895 - 1905
Coordinates
324673, 223041
Date Recorded
06/11/2012
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay (three-bay deep) two-storey double gable-fronted convent, designed 1900; built 1900-1, on a rectangular plan centred on single-bay single-storey gabled advanced porch to ground floor; two-bay two-storey rear (south) elevation. Vacated, 1991. Now in alternative use. Pitched (gable-fronted) and hipped slate roofs on an E-shaped plan with pitched slate roof (south), clay ridge tiles, red brick Running bond chimney stacks including red brick Running bond central chimney stack (south) having stringcourses below corbelled stepped capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta pots, lichen-spotted cut-granite coping to gables on rendered kneelers, and replacement uPVC rainwater goods on rendered eaves retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Rendered, ruled and lined walls on rendered plinth. Round-headed central door opening with concealed dressings framing glazed timber panelled double doors. Square-headed window openings with concrete sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings to rear (south) elevation including paired square-headed window openings (ground floor) with concrete sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central vestibule with tessellated terracotta tiled floor; square-headed door opening into hall with chamfered timber mullions framing glazed timber panelled double doors having sidelights on risers below overlight; and hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors. Set in landscaped grounds shared with Saint Columcille's Hospital.
Appraisal
A convent erected to a design by Patrick Forstall Comber (1831-1909) of Leeson Street, Dublin (Irish Builder 15th June 1901, 391), illustrating the partial redevelopment of the Rathdown Union Workhouse complex at the turn of the twentieth century with the architectural value of the composition suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on an expressed porch; the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression; and the gabled roofline recalling the nearby "Front Block" (see 60260099). Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of a convent forming part of a neat self-contained group alongside an adjacent chapel (see 60260101) with the resulting ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan setting.