Birchgrove House

Detached three-storey over basement country house, with central pedimented breakfront, built c.1730, having Ionic portico addition approached by flight of steps. Two-storey over basement two-bay addition to west with shallow bow to front and tower on bowed central bay of west gable, c.1830. Two bows and return to north elevation. Hipped slate roofs with rendered chimneystacks and with ogee-shaped lead dome to tower. Rubble sandstone walls with sandstone quoins. Square-headed openings and with loops to westernmost bay. Timber sliding sash windows, six-over-six pane to lower floors of front, three-over-three to second floor and varied to rear, all with limestone sills having ashlar sandstone Gibbsian surrounds and Gothic-style timber glazed window having stained glass details to the bowed bay and with brick dressings to windows in west gable. Timber panelled double-leaf door with glazed cast-iron panels and flanked by niches. Extensive single-storey and two-storey outbuildings to north having hipped slate roofs. Remains of walled garden to south with sandstone store house, and four brick kilns.

This imposing country house, set in a mature landscape, is a notable example of both early eighteenth and early nineteenth-century architecture in Ireland. The pedimented breakfront and fine Ionic portico are interesting features of the earlier block, while the projecting bay and tower with a decorative and unusual lead ogee dome are notable features of the later addition. The windows to the bow are particularly ornate having florid motifs with stained glass. The site includes the remains of an extensive sandstone walled garden with an ornate Gothic style entrance, store house and brick kilns. The walled garden provides historical context as an integral part of the maintenance of a country house.