Survey Data
Reg No
15702548
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Country house
In Use As
Country house
Date
1835 - 1845
Coordinates
295323, 139026
Date Recorded
23/08/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay single-storey double-pile over basement country house with half-dormer attic, built 1837-44, on a T-shaped plan centred on single-bay single-storey flat-roofed projecting porch abutting single-bay full-height gabled advanced end bay; three-bay full-height rear (south) elevation. Vacant, 1901; 1911. Modified, 1944-5, producing present composition. Sold, 1949. Resold, 1975. Set in landscaped grounds including terraces centred on flights of lichen-spotted steps.
Appraisal
A country house erected for William Russell Farmar JP (1802-71) to a design by Daniel Robertson (d. 1849) representing an important component of the nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of the outskirts of Enniscorthy with the architectural value of the composition, 'a large and handsome house in the Tudor style' (Hickey alias Doyle 1868, 117-8), confirmed by such attributes as the compact plan form centred on an expressed porch recalling the Robertson-designed Castletown Castle (1835-6) in neighbouring County Carlow; the construction in a silver-grey Mount Leinster granite demonstrating good quality workmanship; the diminishing in scale of the multipartite openings on each floor producing a graduated visual impression with the principal "apartments" defined by polygonal bay windows; and the pinnacle-topped gablets embellishing a high pitched roofline. Although much modified to designs (1944-5) by McDonnell and Dixon (formed 1917) of Ely Place, Dublin (DIA), those works involving the demolition of an adjoining farmhouse erected (1811) for Hugh Howell Farmar (c.1745-1812), the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior where timber work recalling the Robertson-designed Wells House (see 15702132) and Johnstown Castle (see 15704226); chimneypieces; and plasterwork enrichments, all highlight the artistic potential of the composition. Furthermore, adjacent outbuildings (extant 1840); and a nearby gate lodge (see 15702549), all continue to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained estate having historic connections with the Farmar family including Captain William Henry Farmar JP (1831-76), 'late of Bloomfield County Wexford' (Calendars of Wills and Administrations 1876, 214; cf. 15702546); and Major William Cecil Russell Farmar RA (1869-1939); and the Maher family including John Maher (d. 1962), one-time Comptroller and Auditor General of Ireland (fl. 1944-9).