Survey Data
Reg No
50080056
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Royal Hospital Kilmainham
Original Use
Gate lodge
In Use As
Building misc
Date
1810 - 1815
Coordinates
312771, 233726
Date Recorded
17/06/2013
Date Updated
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Description
Detached three-bay three-storey calp limestone castellated gate lodge with integral carriage arch and five-stage round tower to south-west corner, built 1812, moved to west gate of Royal Hospital Kilmainham 1847. Roof hidden behind stepped crenellated parapet with string courses, and corbels to front elevation and round tower. Ashlar limestone walls, battered buttresses, battered base to round tower. Coat of arms over arch of front (east) and rear (west) elevations. Square-headed window opening to first floor of front and rear elevations, having cut voussoirs, chamfered reveals and tripartite window with two-over-two pane timber sash windows. Carved label moulding to rear elevation. Square-headed window openings to first and second floors, pointed arch window openings to ground floor front elevation, all with chamfered reveals and timber framed windows. Loop windows to tower. Pointed arch door openings to rear elevation, each having chamfered reveals and timber battened door. Pointed arch carriage arches, having cut limestone voussoirs, chamfered reveals, and wrought-iron double-leaf gate. Flanked by dressed snecked limestone boundary walls, that to south having two-over-two pane timber sash window. Located at corner of South Circular Road and Kilmainham Lane.
Appraisal
This gate tower forms part of a related group of structures at the former Royal Hospital, now the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Richmond Tower was originally constructed at the junction of Watling Street and Victoria Quay, and was moved to the Royal Hospital at Kilmainham in 1847 due to traffic congestion caused by the opening of the new railway terminus at Kingsbridge, now Heuston Station. The gateway was named after the Duke of Richmond, Lord Lieutenant (1807-1813), and was designed by Francis Johnston, who was also responsible for alterations to the courtyard and north range of the main Royal Hospital building in the early years of the nineteenth century. The impressive and imposing gateway is testament to the high-quality craftsmanship in the early nineteenth century, and contributes to the architectural character of Kilmainham.