Survey Data
Reg No
50080646
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
The Meath Hospital and County Dublin Infirmary
Original Use
Hospital/infirmary
In Use As
Monument
Date
1875 - 1880
Coordinates
314780, 233527
Date Recorded
22/10/2013
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding granite triple-arch portico, built 1877, formerly part of the Coombe Lying-In Hospital. Round arches with carved surrounds and keystones supported on plain pilasters. Central arch framed by Tuscan columns supporting open-based pediment. Outer arches framed by plain pilasters supporting entablature and cornice. Square-profile piers with railings to front (north) elevation. Accessed by curved flights of granite steps to east and west elevations. Marble plaque to front elevation. Recent steps to rear elevation.
Appraisal
This ornate portico is all that remains overground of the Meath Hospital and County Dublin Infirmary and Coombe Lying-In Hospital which occupied the site between 1771 and 1967, an important part of the medical and social history of the city. It was built as part of an extension to the hospital to the designs of architect J. F. Fuller between 1875-77. A commemorative plaque on the front elevation commemorates the foundation of the Coombe Lying-In Hospital in 1826, while the steps to the rear elevation record the names of notable entertainers.