J.J. Bowles

End-of-terrace two-bay two-storey rendered public house, built c. 1800, with historic shopfront, and flat-roofed single-storey extension to rear. Steeply pitched artificial slate roof with rendered chimneystack to north gable wall, and red brick chimneystack to south party wall. Small rooflight to rear span. uPVC rainwater goods. Painted ruled and lined rendered front elevation and painted smooth rendered rear elevation, unpainted rendered side elevation. Nineteenth-century timber shopfront with six Doric pilasters joined by timber fascia with cornice above. Two display windows rising from rendered stallrisers, one tripartite, the other bipartite, with timber mullions and shoulder arches, clear glazing and wrought metal security grilles. Two square-headed door openings, one to upper floors with flat-panelled timber door leaf and two-pane overlight; door to public house with double-leaf doors leading to double-leaf glazed timber doors. Square-headed window openings throughout, with rendered reveals, painted sills, nineteenth-century bipartite casement windows with twelve-pane top-hung lights. Elaborate timber casements to rear elevation with moulded timber mullions. Site enclosed from the River Shannon by retaining wall faced with large limestone blocks on which wrought-iron railings are fixed.

An accurate date for this building is difficult to ascertain without more extensive investigations, though it could be significantly earlier in origins given the pitch of the roof structure and the placing of the window openings in such a manner to suggest quite substantial party walls. The nineteenth-century shopfront and timber casement windows gives added interest to this historic building. It is located within the historic Thomond Gate area of Limerick, close to Thomond Bridge and the immensely historic King's Island. A Limerick Civic Trust plaque on the front elevation reads: 'J.J. Bowes 1879-1948 This great Thomondgate sportsman who reigned as Irish Handball Champion for the best part of 25 years and who contested the World Championship in New York in 1909, lived here.'