Gore Port

Detached three-bay two-storey house, built c.1820, with earlier two-storey house attached to the rear (south), c.1760. Hipped natural slate roof with overhanging eaves and a pair of central chimneystacks. Lime rendered walls with square-headed window openings having cut stone sills and timber sliding sash windows. Central round-headed doorcase to entrance façade (north) having timber panelled door and fanlight over. Earlier house to rear has pitched natural slate roof and square-headed window openings having diamond pane glazing. Extensive collection of ruinous rubble limestone outbuildings arranged to the east having remains of pitched slate roofs, square-headed openings and segmental-headed carriage arches. Main entrance to the south, at start of long approach avenue, having remains of decorative cast-iron gates and gate posts. House is sited on a small hillock on the southern shores of Lough Sheelin with extensive views to the north.

A highly appealing middle-sized house, of balanced late-Georgian proportions, which retains its early form and character. It retains all of its early fabric including early lime render, a low-pitched natural slate roof and early timber sash windows. The more modest and earlier house to the rear is an interesting survival and retains all its salient materials and fabric including leaded diamond pane windows. The extensive collection of outbuildings to the east, most of which appear to date to the early-to-mid nineteenth-century, complete the setting and add to this attractive structure. Gore Port is very well sited on the shores of Lough Sheelin and has extensive panoramic views to the north, which adds to its appeal. The remains of cast-iron gates to the south, now sadly much damaged, are an interesting feature along the road running from Finnea to the west. Gore Port was the residence of a Capt. A. Walker in 1837 and was described as being 'the handsome residence, beautifully situated on the shore of Lough Sheelin' at this time (Lewis 1837). It remains an important part of the architectural heritage of Westmeath, along with its attendant outbuildings.