Survey Data
Reg No
15312035
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Historical
Original Use
Farmyard complex
In Use As
Farmyard complex
Date
1800 - 1860
Coordinates
257998, 251639
Date Recorded
11/11/2004
Date Updated
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Description
Collection of single and double-storey outbuildings formerly part of Curristown House (now ruinous or demolished), built c.1800 and 1850, arranged around two separate courtyards. Now in use as agricultural outbuildings/farmyard. Pitched natural slate roofs, some sections now partially covered with corrugated metal sheeting, having remaining sections of cast-iron rainwater goods. Two-storey ranges (north) constructed of coursed rubble limestone with brick dressings to openings. Roughcast lime rendered finish to single-storey ranges (south). Square-headed window and door openings and segmental-headed carriage arches, with remains of timber sliding sash windows and timber sheeted doors. Remains of dressed limestone gate piers on square-plan give access to courtyards. Rubble limestone gate piers on circular plan to site, the majority having wrought-iron bar gates, give access to fields to north and to the east. Possible remains of Curristown House to the southwest corner of complex. Complex located on the eastern edge of Killucan.
Appraisal
The remains of an extensive complex of outbuildings associated with Curristown House, which retain their early form and character despite their ruinous condition. They are well constructed in local limestone and retain much of their early fabric, albeit in a dilapidated condition. The dressed limestone gate piers and wrought-iron gates are good examples of nineteenth century craftsmanship. This complex appears to have been constructed over two distinct periods. The buildings forming the east side of each range are the earliest and were constructed c.1800. The ranges to the west and forming the north and south ranges to each courtyard are mid-to-late nineteenth-century in date. This complex was built to serve Curristown House, a property in the ownership of the Purdon Family from about c.1760. It was the home of a G. Purdon, Esq., in 1837. The ruinous structure to the southwest corner may be the fragmentary remains of the house itself. The Purdon Family were a major landholding family in the Killucan area in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and had further seats a Lisnabin Castle (15402014) and at Jorristown, Raharney (15313001). This substantial complex now acts as a reminder of this period of Killucan's history and gives an insight into the extensive and complex resources required to maintain a large country house during the nineteenth century. It remains part of the architectural heritage of Westmeath and adds a historic layer and a picturesque quality to the landscape on the eastern edges of Killucan.