Blackstick Priory

Detached five-bay two-storey former Christian Brothers monastery, built c.1860, with return to rear, now disused. Set back from road behind low walls. Hipped slate roof with terracotta ridge tiles, rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. Pebbledash to walls with modern stone plaque reading 'Christian Brothers Monastery, 1863-1995, Mainistir na mBráithre Críostaí'. Stucco surround to windows with tooled stone sills. Ground floor windows boarded up, replacement windows to first floor. Round-headed door opening with replacement timber door and replacement timber fanlight. Stucco surround with flower detail to keystone. Ruled-and-lined rendered wall to front site surmounted by cast-iron railings. Gateway to west giving access to derelict mid nineteenth-century rendered school buildings, comprising segmental-headed arch with wrought-iron gates surmounted by gesso statue.

The monastery was residence to the Christian Brothers who ran the school at the rear from 1863 to 1995. As such the building and associated structures form a socially significant group. Although not in use, the building has an imposing presence in the streetscape with its roofline towering above the neighbouring houses. The cast-iron railings add a pleasant decorative touch alleviating the severity of the façade. The attractive gesso statue, representing Saint Joseph and the Infant Jesus, which surmounts the school's entrance gate, is of artistic merit.