Díl Cnoc Avon

Detached three-bay (two-bay deep) two-storey house, dated 1873, on a rectangular plan centred on single-bay two-storey pedimented breakfront. Occupied, 1901; 1911. Sold, 1991. Hipped slate roof on a U-shaped plan centred on pitched (gabled) slate roof (breakfront), clay ridge tiles, paired rendered central chimney stacks on chamfered cushion courses on rendered bases having corbelled stepped stringcourses below capping supporting terracotta or yellow terracotta pots, and cast-iron rainwater goods on slightly overhanging timber box eaves on rendered frieze having paired timber consoles. Part creeper-covered roughcast walls on rendered chamfered plinth with rusticated cut-granite quoins to corners. Pointed segmental-headed central door opening in pointed segmental-headed recess approached by two cut-granite steps with rendered surround framing timber panelled double doors having sidelights on panelled risers below overlight. Pointed segmental-headed central window opening in tripartite arrangement (first floor) with cut-granite sill, timber mullions, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash window having one-over-one sidelights. Pointed segmental-headed window openings (first floor) with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Pointed segmental-headed window openings (side elevations) with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing two-over-two timber sash windows. Interior including (ground floor): central hall retaining carved timber surrounds to door openings framing timber panelled doors; and carved timber surrounds to door openings to remainder framing timber panelled doors with carved timber surrounds to window openings framing timber panelled shutters. Set in landscaped grounds.

A house representing an important component of the later nineteenth-century domestic built heritage of County Kildare with the architectural value of the composition, one allegedly erected as a summerhouse for the bishops of the diocese and subsequently occupied as a parochial house or presbytery (The Irish Times 22nd February 2001), confirmed by such attributes as the compact rectilinear plan form centred on a pedimented breakfront; the diminishing in scale of the "pointed" openings on each floor producing a graduated tiered visual effect with the principal "apartments" defined by polygonal bay windows; and the coupled timber work embellishing the roof. Having been well maintained, the form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original or sympathetically replicated fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior, thus upholding the character or integrity of a house having historic connections with Reverend Philip McCarthy (1837-1913); and Monsignor Maurice Brown (1891-1979) who, under the nom de plume Joseph Brady, wrote the novels "In Monavalla" (1963), "The Big Sycamore" (1964) and "From a Presbytery Window" (1971).