Gates in Fintragh

Gateway serving Corrin Lodge, erected c. 1880, comprising a pair of rock-faced ashlar gate piers (on square-plan) having dressed margins, and with rock-faced capstones over, and having a pair of hooped wrought-iron gates having cast-iron spear finials. Set slightly back from road at the start of long approach avenue to Corrin Lodge to the north-east (not investigated), and located in the rural countryside to the west of Killybegs.

This simple but well-built gateway, of late-nineteenth century appearance, retains it original form and character. The robust rock-faced ashlar gate piers show high-quality execution, and are testament to the skill of local craftsmen at the time of construction. The rock-faced construction is reminiscent of railway engineering/architecture and bridges dating from the last decades of the nineteenth-century, which suggests that this gateway dates to this period. The simple hooped wrought-iron gates also survive in good condition, and are attractive examples of early ironmongery. Entrance gateways of this type were once a ubiquitous feature of the rural Irish landscape but are now becoming increasingly rare on account of clearance to accommodate modern agricultural needs and road widening schemes etc., making this particular example an interesting survival of its type. This gateway was originally built to serve the main entrance to Corrin Lodge (not in survey) to the north-east, a house that was in existence in 1837 and still survives in a derelict condition (house not investigated). Corrin Lodge was the home of an Edward Lee in 1831 and 1837 and was later associated with the Hamilton family of Fintra or Fintragh House (house demolish; stableblock – see 40909707). The gateway is an interesting feature along the main approach road into Killybegs from the west, and is an integral element of the built heritage of the local area.