Survey Data
Reg No
12402403
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Country house
In Use As
Country house
Date
1725 - 1735
Coordinates
259787, 148843
Date Recorded
11/11/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached five-bay two-storey country house with half-dormer attic, built 1730; extant 1774, on a cruciform plan originally five-bay two-storey on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay full-height breakfront on a bowed plan; single-bay (single-bay deep) full-height central return (north). "Improved", 1788, producing present composition. Occupied, 1901. Pitched slate roof on a T-shaped plan including gablets to window openings to half-dormer attic centred on parapet with clay ridge tiles, rendered central chimney stack having corbelled stepped capping supporting terracotta pots, timber bargeboards to gablets on timber purlins, and cast-iron rainwater goods on rendered eaves retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered rendered walls with battlemented parapet having lichen-covered cut-limestone coping; slate hung surface finish to side elevations. Square-headed central door opening behind (single-storey) prostyle distyle portico with dragged cut-limestone columns having responsive pilasters supporting dentilated "Cyma Recta" or "Cyma Reversa" cornice on "Cornucopia"-detailed frieze, and drag edged dragged cut-limestone surround framing timber panelled double doors having fanlight. Pointed-arch flanking window openings with cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing three-over-six timber sash windows having interlocking Y-tracery glazing bars. Square-headed window opening (first floor) with cut-limestone sill, and concealed dressings framing eight-over-eight timber sash windows having Y-tracery glazing bars. Quatrefoil window openings centred on rounded triangular window opening (top floor) with concealed dressings framing timber casement windows. Square-headed window openings with cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six or three-over-six (half-dormer attic) timber sash windows having Y-tracery glazing bars. Interior including (ground floor): bow-ended central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters, plasterwork cornice to ceiling, staircase on a dog leg plan with turned timber balusters supporting carved timber banister, carved timber surrounds to door openings to landing framing timber panelled doors, and plasterwork cornice to ceiling; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters. Set in landscaped grounds.
Appraisal
A country house representing an important component of the domestic built heritage of County Kilkenny with the architectural value of the composition, one restructured in the early eighteenth-century repurposing the fabric of the late medieval 'house of Naushistowne [Nashtown] of the Manor of Bishopslough' (Corballis 1996, 106), confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking gently rolling grounds; the cruciform plan form centred on a Georgian Gothic breakfront; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or "improvement" of the country house into the nineteenth century. Having been sympathetically restored following a period of unoccupancy in the later twentieth century, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where contemporary joinery; chimneypieces; and plasterwork refinements, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (see 12402409); a walled garden (extant 1837); and a nearby "columbarium" or dovecote (extant 1900), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained estate having historic connections with the O'Flaherty family including Thomas O'Flaherty (d. 1778); Thomas Bourke O'Flaherty MP (d. 1812), one-time High Sheriff of County Kilkenny (fl. 1790); and Thomas John Bourke O'Flaherty (d. 1864); the Willett family including Henry John Willett (d. 1872) and Rebecca Jane Willett (née O'Flaherty) (d. 1842); and the O'Keeffe family including Michael O'Keeffe (d. 1905), 'Farmer late of Castle Eve [sic] County Kilkenny' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1905, 239); and Pierce O'Keeffe (d. 1949).