garda station/constabulary barracks

Detached three-bay two-storey former Royal Irish Constabulary barracks, built in 1884, having a single-bay entrance porch with pitched roof to the centre of the front elevation (west). Now in use as a house. Three-bay single-storey annexe attached to the south gable (c. 1910) having a pitched artificial slate roof. Two-bay single-storey extension to north gable having pitched artificial slate roof. Extension to north now in use as a commercial premises. Pitched artificial slate roof to main building with timber bargeboards and with a moulded brick chimneystacks to either gable end. Remain sections of cast-iron rainwater goods. Roughcast rendered walls; lined-and-ruled rendered finish to porch. Square-headed window openings with replacement uPVC windows and painted sills. Square-headed door opening to porch having a timber panelled door with an overlight above having vertical glazing bars. Square-headed openings to annexe with three-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows having painted sills and a central half-glazed timber panelled door. Road-fronted to the north of Longford Town with multiple recent extensions to the rear (east).

This typical late nineteenth-century Royal Irish Constabulary barracks retains its early form and character. The simple form, clarity of lines and symmetrical elevation of this building help make it a pleasing composition. The tall narrow window openings and the prominent brick chimneystacks lend it a distinctive character, making it a significant feature on Battery Road and adding to the historic feel of the streetscape to the north of Longford Town. This building is of historical importance as a former Royal Irish Constabulary barracks, one of a number of examples of this building type still extant in County Longford. This structure appears to have been out of use as an RIC barracks by 1914 (Ordnance Survey third edition map information). The simple extension to the south adds to its character and completes the composition. This barracks was known as Longford Town No. 2 Barracks in 1894 (Slater's Directory), when five officers where stationed here under the command of Sergeant John Hamilton.