Survey Data
Reg No
13401458
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical
Original Use
House
Date
1780 - 1820
Coordinates
220945, 273308
Date Recorded
05/02/2009
Date Updated
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Description
Detached three-bay two-storey house on L-shaped plan, built c. 1800, having two-storey block, c. 1860, attached to the southwest end of the rear (northwest) elevation. Single-bay single-storey entrance porch, c. 1860, attached to the centre of the front elevation (southeast) having hipped natural slate roof. Now out of use and derelict. Hipped natural slate roof with a pair of central rendered chimneystacks. Some remaining sections of cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast rendered finish over rubble stone construction. Square-headed window openings having cut stone sills, openings now blocked. Square-headed doorway to the southwest face of porch, now blocked. Set back from road in extensive mature landscaped grounds. Located to the southeast of Longford Town and to the west of west of Edgeworthstown. Detached two-storey outbuilding to the rear (west) having natural slate roof, roughcast rendered walls, square-headed window and door openings with remains of timber fittings, and segmental-headed carriage arch. Main gateway to the south of house comprising a pair of cut stone gate posts having chamfered corners and pyramidal caps, and having a pair of wrought-iron gates with decorative finials. Gateway flanked to either side by sections of rubble stone boundary wall.
Appraisal
Although out of use for a considerable period of time and now sadly derelict, this well-proportioned house, of balanced late-Georgian appearance, retains much of its early character and form. The symmetrical front elevation with diminishing window openings, and the hipped natural slate roof with central chimneystacks, lends this building a muted classical character that is a feature of many middle-sized house built in the rural Irish landscape by prosperous framers, professionals, clergy and the minor gentry from the late-eighteenth century and throughout the nineteenth century. The block to the rear and the entrance porch are later additions, added during the mid-to-late nineteenth century (Ordnance Survey first edition six-inch map 1838). The substantial outbuilding to the rear adds substantially to the context and setting of this house and provides an historic insight into the extensive resources required to run and maintain a middle-sized farm holding in Ireland during the nineteenth century. The gateway to the south has a pair of well-crafted cut stone gate posts and wrought-iron gates with delicate wrought-iron detailing to the central finials. This gateway adds aesthetic interest along the main Longford to Edgeworthstown road and completes the setting. Occupying attractive mature grounds, this building is an attractive feature in the rural landscape to the southeast of Longford Town. Sensitively restored, this building and associated elements would constitute an integral element of the built heritage of the local area. This building was possibly the residence of a William Henry in 1846 (Slater’s Directory), and of a John Phillips in 1894 (Slater's Directory). John Phillips (died 1917) served as M. P. for South County Longford in the British Parliament from 1907 to 1917 and was the last M. P. to serve this constituency.