Survey Data
Reg No
31215033
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic
Previous Name
Munster and Leinster Bank
Original Use
Bank/financial institution
In Use As
Bank/financial institution
Date
1920 - 1925
Coordinates
119135, 264286
Date Recorded
25/11/2010
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Attached three-bay double-height flat-roofed banking hall, built 1922; opened 1922, on a rectangular plan centred on single-bay full-height "bas-relief" breakfront; single-bay full-height side elevations. Flat roof not visible behind parapet with concealed rainwater goods retaining cast-iron hoppers and square profile downpipes. Rendered walls on rendered cushion course on dragged cut-limestone plinth with paired rendered pilasters supporting cornice on blind frieze; rendered surface finish ("attic") with dentilated "Cavetto" cornice on blind frieze on stringcourse below iron-covered blocking course. Segmental-headed central window opening with sill on panelled riser, and rendered pilasters supporting moulded archivolt centred on fluted keystone framing fixed-pane timber fitting behind cast-iron sill guard. Segmental-headed window openings (side elevations) with sills on panelled risers, and rendered pilasters supporting moulded archivolts centred on fluted keystones framing fixed-pane timber fittings behind cast-iron sill guards. Street fronted with concrete footpath to front.
Appraisal
A banking hall erected to a design (1922) by Beckett and Harrington (formed 1918) of Dublin (DIA) representing an important component of the early twentieth-century built heritage of Ballinrobe with the architectural value of the composition, one recalling the Beckett and Harrington-designed banking hall (1925) in Portarlington, County Laois, confirmed by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a shallow breakfront; the sleek "stucco" dressings; and the parapeted roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of a banking hall forming part of a self-contained group alongside the adjacent Bank of Ireland (see 31215034) with the resulting ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in Main Street.