National Museum of Ireland Collins Barracks

Detached gable-fronted three-bay two-storey former quartermaster's store, built c.1850. Now in use as museum building. Pitched slate roof with red and yellow brick chimneystacks, timber bargeboards, carved yellow brick eaves course continuing to form string course to front (west) and rear (east) elevations, timber ventilation shafts and cast-iron rainwater goods. Dressed calp limestone walls, block-and-start quoins, render plinth course. Square-headed window openings with red brick voussoirs, granite sills, raised render reveals and timber sash windows: eight-over-eight pane to ground floor to front, six-over-six pane to others, cast-iron railings throughout. Square-headed and segmental-arched door openings to front and rear elevations, red brick voussoirs, timber battened doors and overlights, segmental-arched carriage arch to rear, red brick voussoirs, double-leaf cast-iron and timber battened gate. Square-headed door opening to north elevation, red brick surround and voussoirs, double-leaf timber battened door opening onto render platform with render steps, timber canopy on timber supports over.

The construction of the Royal Barracks was initiated by the 2nd Duke of Ormonde at the close of the seventeenth century, and was funded by a tax on tobacco and beer. Such a large scale residential barracks was an entirely new concept, and until the departure of the Irish Army from the site in the twenty-first century, it was considered the largest and oldest occupied barracks in Europe. Indicative of the ongoing development and expansion of the barracks, this building was constructed as a Quarter-masters store in the mid-nineteenth century and forms a component part of the array of structures which testifies to the military heritage of this area. The size of the complex as a whole indicates that a substantial building was required to store equipment, foodstuff and clothing, and its ample form is heightened by calp limestone construction and brick detailing, which was added later. It is well-composed and prominently sited near a main entrance to the rear of the barracks, possibly for ease of access of deliveries.