Survey Data
Reg No
60260117
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Library/archive
In Use As
Library/archive
Date
1905 - 1915
Coordinates
325115, 221959
Date Recorded
09/09/2015
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay single-storey library, designed 1910; built 1910-2; opened 1912, on a cruciform plan centred on single-bay single-storey double gabled projecting breakfront; three-bay single-storey rear (west) elevation centred on single-bay single-storey breakfront. Renovated, 1978. Pitched profiled terracotta tile roof on a cruciform plan centred on pitched double gabled (M-profile) profiled terracotta tile roof (breakfront), terracotta ridge tiles centred on copper spire-topped louvered timber "cupola", red brick English Garden Wall bond chimney stacks having dentilated stringcourses below cut-granite chamfered capping supporting ribbed terracotta tapered pots, dentilated timber bargeboards to gables on timber purlins, sprocketed eaves, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards on slightly overhanging timber boarded eaves retaining cast-iron hoppers and downpipes. Gritdashed roughcast walls bellcast over tuck pointed snecked rock faced granite battered base with margined rock faced hammered granite flush quoins to corners; replacement cement rendered surface finish (breakfront) bellcast over tuck pointed snecked rock faced granite battered base with terracotta tile surface finish to gable. Round-headed central opening with concrete step threshold, red brick splayed surround supporting granite ashlar splayed voussoirs with "Cyma Recta"- or "Cyma Reversa"-detailed hood moulding. Square-headed door opening into library with replacement glazed timber double doors having overlight. Square-headed flanking window openings with "Cavetto"-detailed timber sills, and timber surrounds framing timber casement windows having square glazing bars. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with "Cavetto"-detailed timber sills, and timber surrounds framing timber casement windows having square glazing bars. Set in landscaped grounds on a slightly elevated corner site with cast-iron "estate railings" to perimeter.
Appraisal
A library erected to a design by Rudolph Maximilian Butler (1872-1943) of Dawson Street, Dublin (Irish Builder 10th December 1910, 765), representing an important component of the early twentieth-century built heritage of south County Dublin with the architectural value of the composition, one recalling the Butler-designed Cabinteely Carnegie Free Library (1910-2), Cabinteely (see 60260244), confirmed by such attributes as the compact cruciform plan form centred on a Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869-1944)-esque breakfront showing a stylised Romanesque doorcase described as 'Butler's best library doorway and an exquisite piece of work' (Grimes 1998, 235); the robust rock faced granite dressings demonstrating good quality workmanship; the multipartite openings showing characteristic Arts and Crafts-style glazing patterns; and the spire-topped "cupola" embellishing a high pitched gabled roofline. 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 restrained interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of a library making a pleasing visual statement as the centrepiece of a cottage village scheme developed (1909-10) by Rathdown Rural District Council (established 1898; abolished 1930).