Abbey House in Kildare

Attached three-bay two-storey house, c.1870, probably originally detached on a symmetrical plan retaining early fenestration with round-headed door opening to centre ground floor. Extended, c.1980, comprising three-bay single-storey flat-roofed parallel range along rear elevation to west. Now disused. Gable-ended roof with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Rendered chimney stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods on eaves course. Flat-roofed to additional range. Bitumen felt. Roughcast walls. Painted. Rendered walls to additional range. Painted. Square-headed window openings. Stone sills (concrete to additional range). Early 2/2 timber sash windows (timber casement windows to additional range). Round-headed door opening. Replacement timber panelled door, c.1980. Overlight. Road fronted. Tarmacadam verge to front.

This house, which is now disused, is an attractive middle-size building composed on a symmetrical plan of graceful Classical proportions, representing the aspirations to formal architectural styles. The house is of social and historical interest, attesting to the continued development of Kildare town in the mid to late nineteenth century. The house retains many important early or original features and materials, including timber sash fenestration and a slate roof having cast-iron rainwater goods – the retention of an early external aspect suggests that the house may retain early features and fittings of significance to the interior. The house is an attractive feature on the streetscape of White Abbey Road, continuing the established streetline of the street while contributing to the varied roofline of the terrace.