Survey Data
Reg No
15318013
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Castletown Geoghegan Constabulary Barrack
Original Use
RIC barracks
In Use As
Garda station/constabulary barracks
Date
1810 - 1930
Coordinates
234288, 243932
Date Recorded
28/09/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Semi-detached five-bay two-storey former RIC barracks, built c.1820. Converted for use as a Garda barracks in 1928. Hipped natural slate roof with overhanging eaves and with three rendered chimneystacks. Roughcast rendered walls over smooth rendered plinth. Square-headed window openings with six-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows to the first floor and replacement casement windows to the ground floor. Central window to the ground floor set in round-headed recess. Two square-headed doorways to the ground floor, each set in a round-headed recess, with replacement doors. Road-fronted to the southeast end of Castletown Geoghegan. Rendered boundary wall and a single-bay single-storey outbuilding with a hipped natural slate roof and roughcast rendered walls to the east.
Appraisal
An interesting building, which retains much of its early form and character. Its simple symmetrical form is enhanced by the retention of original features such as sash windows, which make a positive contribution to the streetscape. This building documents the changing history of policing in Ireland. It was originally built as a Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in early nineteenth-century and represents one of the earliest purpose-built civic buildings still extant in the locality. It was later converted for use as a Garda Station by the Office of Public Works in 1928. It is a good example of a mixed use building with the living quarters to the north and the station to the south. The overall impression is one of designed symmetry, which contrasts with the more typical vernacular buildings of the village. This building is an important element of the built heritage of the local area.