gates/railings/walls

Sections of cast-iron railings from former Farnham Gardens, installed c.1880, salvaged and re-erected to boundaries of Townhall, Thomas Ashe and Farnham Street. Comprising upper and lower level vertical spike-headed elements, lower elements terminating in foliated section resting on horizontal sill, upper section terminating in pair of stepped circular moulds resting on upper horizontal sill. Square-profile intermittent piers with square-based seams and perpendicular scrolled bracket supports. Square-profile gate piers with bevelled panels, bead mouldings and studs with finials to the top.

The railings form a notable element of high aesthetic value on Farnham Street, the main civic street of Cavan town. The railings formerly enclosed the Farnham Gardens, a linear park which was built over in the 1960s. The form of the railings is a good example of late nineteenth-century ironwork design, the elegant piers and brackets being decorative features of particular note. Despite the loss of their original context, the reuse of the railings to form the front boundaries to houses on Farnham Street enriches the streetscape, and sections in their historic position adjoining the town hall add significantly to the setting of this important civic building.