Survey Data
Reg No
31310902
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Rectory/glebe/vicarage/curate's house
In Use As
House
Date
1905 - 1910
Coordinates
109631, 268199
Date Recorded
18/01/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey Church of Ireland rectory, built 1908, on an L-shaped plan; single-bay (south) or two-bay (north) two-storey side elevations. Occupied, 1911. Hipped slate roof on an L-shaped plan with clay ridge tiles, paired rendered central chimney stacks having corbelled stepped capping supporting terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on roughcast eaves retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part creeper- or ivy-covered roughcast walls bellcast over rendered plinth. Square-headed central door opening with timber mullions on step threshold supporting timber transom, and concealed dressings framing timber panelled door having sidelights on panelled risers below overlight. Square-headed flanking window openings in bipartite arrangement with concrete sills, timber mullions, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (first floor) with concrete sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Square-headed window openings (remainder) with concrete sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled reveals or shutters. Set in landscaped grounds with rendered panelled piers to perimeter having "Cyma Recta"- or "Cyma Reversa"-detailed curvilinear gabled capping supporting wrought iron double gates.
Appraisal
A rectory erected to a design (1908) by John Skipton Gervais (1861-1929), Architect to the United Dioceses of Tuam, Kilmore and Killaloe (appointed 1892), representing an important component of the early twentieth-century built heritage of Tuar Mhic Éadaigh [Toormakeady] with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the deliberate alignment maximising on scenic vistas overlooking landscaped grounds with Loch Measca [Lough Mask] as a backdrop; the compact plan form centred on a restrained doorcase; and the diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a graduated tiered visual effect with the principal "apartments" showing bipartite glazing patterns. 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 restrained interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of the composition. Furthermore, an adjacent coach house (extant 1914) continues to contribute positively to the group and setting values of a self-contained ensemble having historic connections with the Ballyovey parish Church of Ireland clergy including Reverend Arthur Wellesley Rudd (----), 'Rector [and] Clerk in Holy Orders' (NA 1911); and Reverend Samuel Dallas Manning (----), 'Rector of Ballyovey Parish 1937-1945' (cf. 31310907).