Survey Data
Reg No
14914005
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Original Use
Gate lodge
In Use As
House
Date
1810 - 1850
Coordinates
212116, 226355
Date Recorded
15/10/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Pair of gates lodges and entrance gates to former Ballylin House, c.1830. Located on roadside. Pair of tooled limestone octagonal gate piers with decoratively carved cap stones supporting pair of wrought-iron gates and flanked by entrance gates to gate lodges supported by smaller piers. Entrance gates flanked by squared limestone walls terminating in similar piers. Detached four-bay single-storey gate lodge to south with projecting gabled end bays and extension to rear. Hipped slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, red brick chimneystack and open eaves. Pebbledashed walls with smooth rendered plinth and stucco molded string course. Bow windows to gabled projecting bay with timber casement windows. Square-headed door opening with timber battened door. Detached three-bay single-storey gate lodge to north with hipped slate roof, decorative scalloped eaves board and pebbledashed walls. Square-headed window openings with timber casement windows and cast-iron pivot windows.
Appraisal
The entrance gates and pair of gate lodges to the former Ballylin House form an impressive and elegant entrance to what was by all accounts a very important country house in County Offaly. The entrance gates in particular are notable for their design and are clearly the work of skill craftsmen. The decorative wrought-iron gates and flanking piers contribute an artistic significance to the site. The gate lodges are not an identical pair suggesting that perhaps only one was a gate lodge and the other a stewards house. Both are now in private ownership but retain their many of their original features including cast-iron pivot windows, timber casement windows and timber battened door which contribute to the character of the site. Although Ballylin House is gone, these gate lodges and entrance gates, together with the remaining outbuildings to the farmyard and walled gardens survive as a reminder of the former demesne.