Survey Data

Reg No

14819095


Rating

Regional


Categories of Special Interest

Architectural, Social


Original Use

Community centre


In Use As

Community centre


Date

1950 - 1955


Coordinates

205829, 205016


Date Recorded

26/08/2004


Date Updated

--/--/--


Description

Detached multiple-bay two-storey hall, built in 1954, with flat-roofed entrance extension to front and side and flat-roofed extension to rear. Set within its own grounds. Pitched corrugated asbestos roof to hall with rendered chimneystack and cast-iron vents. Flat roof to entrance extension. Roughcast rendered walls to hall with smooth rendered vertical buttresses dividing bays to side elevation. Brick to extension walls. Fixed and casement windows with brick surrounds and stone sills. Square-headed door opening with large flanking sidelights and overlight. Brick wall with gate piers and concrete coping with metal railings and double gates to front site.

Appraisal

Set within its own grounds, this hall caters for the Birr community. With its modern linear design and the incorporation of varied materials, this socially significant building contrasts with the historic fabric of the predominantly Georgian town. Established in 1954, this structure like many in Ireland, was constructed to mark and celebrate the Marian Year.