Cloghans National School

Detached four-bay single-storey national school, dated 1860; opened 1861; extant 1893, on an L-shaped plan with single-bay single-storey gabled projecting porch. Closed, 1958. Renovated to accommodate continued private residential use. Pitched slate roof on an L-shaped plan including pitched (gabled) slate roof to porch with roll moulded clay ridge tiles, tuck pointed drag edged tooled limestone ashlar buttressed chimney stacks having lichen-covered cut-limestone stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta octagonal pots, lichen-covered cut-limestone "Cavetto" coping to gables on drag edged tooled cut-limestone kneelers with roll moulded finials to apexes, and cast-iron rainwater goods retaining cast-iron downpipes. Part repointed tuck pointed snecked limestone walls on dragged cut-limestone chamfered cushion course on plinth with drag edged tooled cut-limestone flush quoins to corners. Square-headed window openings in bipartite arrangement with drag edged tooled cut-limestone block-and-start surrounds having chamfered reveals framing replacement casement windows. Set in landscaped grounds with drag edged tooled limestone ashlar piers to perimeter having lichen-covered pyramidal capping supporting spear head-detailed flat iron gate.

A national school representing an important component of the mid nineteenth-century built heritage of south County Mayo with the architectural value of the composition, one rooted firmly in the "picturesque" Tudor Revival fashion, confirmed by such attributes as the compact plan form; the construction in a deep grey limestone offset by sheer dressings demonstrating good quality workmanship; the bipartite glazing patterns; and the high pitched gabled roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric: the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings, however, has not had a beneficial impact on the external expression or integrity of a national school making a pleasing visual statement in a sylvan setting.