Survey Data
Reg No
50130022
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Social
Original Use
Public house
In Use As
Public house
Date
1850 - 1860
Coordinates
315069, 236368
Date Recorded
19/07/2018
Date Updated
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Description
Detached three-bay two-storey public house, built c. 1855, with pubfront to front (east) elevation, and extensions to rear. Pitched slate roof, concealed by corniced rendered parapet with gablet to centre and leaded blocking course over frieze and stringcourse painted with lettering 'The Brian Boru'; rendered gabled chimneystacks with corniced caps; and concealed gutters with metal downpipe to north gable. Painted rendered walling with stepped quoins over painted render plinth to north and south gables. Generally square-headed window openings with moulded architrave surrounds, corniced drip caps and masonry sills; central opening to first floor has segmental pediment, breaking into frieze, infilled with glazed painting of Brian Boru; narrow round-headed windows to each end of first flor of south gable, with one-over one pane timber sliding sash windows. pubfront has two square-headed picture windows with rendered stall-risers, double-leaf half-glazed timber doors at each end; openings divided by painted stucco Doric pilasters; and with glazed and gilded signage to fascia with lettering 'Wine Merchant/P. Hedigan Family Grocer'. Set back from road, with paved forecourt raised above street level. carpark to rear. Interior has tiled floor, Lincrusta-papered ceiling with beams supported on cast-iron columns; wainscoting to walls and timber bar counter with half-glazed dividing screens.
Appraisal
A well-preserved mid-nineteenth-century public house, replacing an earlier pub on the same site. It is neatly proportioned on a symmetrical plan, with stucco detailing characteristic of its period, and a good original pubfront enhanced by glazed and gilded signage. It also retains an original timber bar counter and shelving. Hedigan's was established in 1840 as a grocers and public house and has been in the ownership of the Hedigan family since 1904. The pub is known for a particular whiskey that was blended by Patrick Hedigan and traditionally held to be the only pub in Ireland that did not run out of whiskey during the Second World War. The central window has a notable painting of Brian Boru going into battle by Fergus O'Ryan, reflecting the belief that Brian Boru's army camped nearby, prior to the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The pub is of social interest and enlivens the streetscape of Prospect Road, close to the crossing of the Royal Canal.