Survey Data

Reg No

50130229


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Social


Original Use

School


In Use As

Presbytery/parochial/curate's house


Date

1840 - 1880


Coordinates

319769, 239050


Date Recorded

06/06/2018


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Detached two-storey former school, built c. 1860, now in use as presbytery, having three-bay street-front (west) elevation with slightly projecting south bay, three-bay return at south end (eastern bay may be recent), and late twentieth-century additions to north. Pitched slate roofs with angled ridge tiles and replacement aluminium rainwater goods; three cement-rendered corniced chimneystacks with clay pots; cut stone copings and kneelers to older gables at north and west. Exposed limestone walling to north gable and west elevation, with granite quoins; lined cement-rendered walls elsewhere on plinth course; granite slightly pointed niche to north gable, framed by colonnettes and detailed hood, and having basal corbelling, with Marian statue. Diminutive blind openings to gables and dormers. Square-headed window openings with granite sills, plain reveals to rendered walls and chamfered granite surrounds to stone walls, all having replacement uPVC windows. Square-headed doorway to recess in north elevation, with brick surround and four-panel timber door with overlight and brass furniture, and having granite step. Small garden to front and south, enclosed by recent metal railings, west boundary having concrete dwarf wall with granite coping, and octagonal-plan concrete gate piers.

Appraisal

St. Brendan's Presbytery forms a handsome street-front companion to the adjacent former church, expressing the history of the parish of Coolock. Probably built at the end of the nineteenth century, the building contrasts with the surrounding later houses and the 1970s church to the east. It is thought to have been a Catholic school building and may have been built to replace an existing school. It largely retains its original form and character, although the windows have been replaced, and while it has been extended with further gabled projections, these are largely in keeping with the original character. Prominently located on a corner site, it contributes to the architectural heritage and social history of the Coolock area.