Presentation Convent in Clane

Detached five-bay two-storey over raised basement convent, c.1890, on an L-shaped plan retaining early aspect with round-headed door opening approached by flight of steps and three-bay three-storey return to rear to north-east. Hipped roof on an L-shaped plan with slate. Clay ridge tiles. Rendered chimney stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls. Ruled and lined. Unpainted. Stringcourse to ground floor. Rendered quoins to corners. Square-headed window openings. Rendered sills. Rendered block-and-start surrounds with keystones. 1/1 timber sash windows. Round-headed door opening approached by flight of steps. Moulded rendered doorcase with consoles. Timber panelled door. Decorative fanlight with moulded rendered archivolt. Set back from road in own grounds.

Saint Brigid’s Convent is a fine, substantial, late nineteenth-century building that retains much of its original appearance and character. Set back from the line of Main Street, the building is not a prominent feature in the village of Clane, but is nevertheless visible as the roofline rises above the school to front (south-west). Composed on an L-shaped plan and with elevations of little ornamentation, the building relies primarily on the fine moulded doorcase with fanlight for decorative incident – otherwise the regular displacement of gracefully proportioned openings adds a rhythmic quality to the structure. The convent retains most of its original features and materials, including early timber sash fenestration, the door fittings and a slate roof. The convent is of considerable social and historic interest in Clane and attests to the continued expansion of a Catholic quarter in the town, forming a neat group with the school to south-west (11808006/KD-14-08-06) and the Catholic church to north (11808007/KD-14-08-07).