Survey Data
Reg No
31310910
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Previous Name
Toormakeady Garda Síochána Station
Original Use
Garda station/constabulary barracks
Historical Use
House
Date
1923 - 1950
Coordinates
108943, 266752
Date Recorded
07/03/2011
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay two-storey Garda Síochána station, ----, on a T-shaped plan; single-bay (single-bay deep) single-storey lean-to central return (west). Vacated, 2006. For sale, 2009. Now disused. Pitched slate roof on collared timber construction; lean-to slate roof (west), clay ridge tiles, moss-covered concrete or rendered coping to gables with rendered chimney stacks to apexes having stepped capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on timber eaves boards retaining cast-iron downpipes. Rendered battered walls bellcast over rendered plinth; roughcast surface finish to rear (west) elevation. Square-headed central door opening with concealed dressings framing timber panelled door. Square-headed flanking window openings in tripartite arrangement with concrete or cut-limestone sills, timber mullions, and concealed dressings framing six-over-six timber sash windows having two-over-two sidelights. Square-headed window openings (first floor) with concrete or cut-limestone sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining timber surrounds to door openings framing timber boarded panelled doors, staircase on a dog leg plan with timber "match stick" balusters supporting timber banister, and timber boarded doors to landing. Set in overgrown grounds on a corner site with ivy-covered piers to perimeter having pyramidal capping supporting flat iron gate.
Appraisal
A Garda Síochána station representing an important component of the early twentieth-century built heritage of the outskirts of Tuar Mhic Éadaigh [Toormakeady] with the architectural value of the composition confirmed by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a featureless doorcase; and the somewhat disproportionate bias of solid to void in the massing compounded by the diminishing in scale of the centralised openings on each floor producing a graduated tiered visual effect with the principal "apartments" showing Wyatt-style tripartite glazing patterns. A prolonged period of unoccupancy notwithstanding, the 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 a Garda Síochána station making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan street scene.