convent/nunnery

Attached five-bay two-storey convent, built 1878, on a rectangular plan probably originally two separate three-bay two-storey (east) or two-bay two-storey (west) houses. Vacated, 1969. Renovated, ----, to accommodate continued alternative use. Pitched slate roof behind parapet with clay ridge tiles, coping to gable (east) with rendered chimney stack to apex having stepped capping supporting terracotta pots, and concealed rainwater goods retaining cast-iron octagonal hopper and downpipe. Rendered, ruled and lined walls with coping to parapet. Square-headed door opening (east) with concealed dressings framing glazed timber panelled door having overlight. Square-headed window openings with cut-granite sills, and concealed dressings framing replacement uPVC casement windows replacing one-over-one timber sash windows. Set back from line of street with cut-granite monolithic piers to perimeter having pyramidal capping supporting quatrefoil-detailed wrought iron gate.

A convent representing an integral component of the built heritage of Enniscorthy with the architectural value of the composition, one most likely repurposing earlier houses marked on the first edition of the Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1840; published 1841), suggested by such attributes as the rectilinear plan form; the slight diminishing in scale of the openings on each floor producing a feint graduated visual impression; and the parapeted roofline. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with substantial quantities of the original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior: however, the introduction of replacement fittings to most of the openings has not had a beneficial impact on the character or integrity of a convent forming part of a self-contained group alongside a later convent (see 15603035) with the resulting ensemble making a pleasing visual statement in Weafer Street.