Prize Cottages, worker's house in County Westmeath

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Pair of semi-detached two-bay single-storey estate worker's houses with attic levels, dated 1860. Now out of use and derelict. Pitched pantile roof (shared) with projecting brick eaves course, cast-iron rainwater goods having a chimneystack to either gable end and a shared chimneystack to the centre. Lime roughcast rendered walls. Limestone plaque with inscription "R.A. Society of Ireland Prize Cottages, Province of Leinster 1860" over doorcase of building to south. Square-headed window openings with cut stone sills and cast-iron casement windows. Square-headed door openings to the centre of each house with timber sheeted doors having iron latches. Set back from road in own grounds to the south of Collinstown having rubble limestone walls to the entrance fronts (east).

A charming pair of mid nineteenth-century cottages, which retain their early form, character and fabric. The materials used in the construction, particularly the pantile roof and the cast-iron windows, are unusual and add to the importance and the architectural impact of these picturesque structures. These cottages were probably built as estate cottages and may be associated with the Smyth Family of Barbavilla House (15400813) to the south. They are very similar in appearance to a number of other buildings in the Collinstown area, including a terrace of three houses (15400808) to the northwest, suggesting that these were all built as part of the same building project. These particular cottages have an inscribed limestone plaque indicating that they were awarded a Royal Agricultural Society Award (Leinster) for their design in 1860, adding to their architectural importance and historical significance. These structures continue to make a very positive contribution to the streetscape of Collinstown, despite being out of use and in a derelict condition, and are integral elements of the architectural heritage of Westmeath.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 15400810

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National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Maker not stated on source page, storage.googleapis.com
Photographer not named; article written by Joe Potter, www.collinstown.ie
Maker not stated on source page, monumentalireland.ie
Maker not stated on source page, commons.wikimedia.org
Maker not stated on source page, en.wikipedia.org
Maker not stated on source page, www.irishcentral.com

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