Coaching inn in Athlone and Bigmeadow, County Westmeath

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Terraced three-bay two-storey former coaching inn, built c.1725, possibly containing the fabric of earlier buildings. Now divided into two separate commercial premises with accommodation over. Originally a two-storey building but second floor added at a subsequent date. Low pitched slate roof with brick chimneystacks to either end. Rendered walls with widely-spaced square-headed window openings having cut stone sills and replacement windows. Two modern shopfronts to ground floor with modern square-headed doorcases. Sean's Bar façade (south) has four fluted Ionic columns which were moved here from Gills Bookshop, O'Connell St. Dublin, c.1980. Road-fronted.

An important and interesting building that may be of considerable antiquity. It was originally two floors in height but a third floor in brick was added later, probably during the first half of the nineteenth century. During renovations, c.1970, sections of wattle and mud partitions, possibly of seventeenth century date, were discovered on the first floor. The thick walls and the low floor to ceiling height is also indicative of an early date. The long narrow property boundaries to the rear may be the survival of medieval burgage plots. This building is reputedly one of the oldest inns in the country and was known as 'The Three Blackamoor Heads' in a 1738 rental survey. One of its early owners reputedly ran the first Athlone to Dublin coach service in the late 1730s. This building retains its character and is of great importance to the historic streetscape of Athlone.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 15000331

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Photo credits

Oliver Dixon, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Graham Horn, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Pat Byrne, Geograph · Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
Dvcireland, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
PatWhelehan, Wikimedia Commons
Peter Gerken, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

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