Leixlip Castle

Detached single-bay single-storey over raised base rubble stone boat house, c.1780, on a polygonal plan with square-headed opening to base originally accommodating boat. Now disused and derelict. Domed roof on an octagonal plan. Materials not discerned. Red brick chimney stack to apex on a polygonal plan. Broken coursed squared rubble stone walls (possibly originally rendered). Red brick dressings to corners. Square-headed opening to base. Fittings not visible (presumed to be missing). Shallow segmental-headed window openings. Red brick dressings. Fittings now gone. Set back from road in grounds shared with Leixlip Castle on bank at confluence of Rye Water and River Liffey. Grounds now mostly overgrown.

This boat house, which is now disused and in an advanced state of dereliction, remains an attractive feature in the grounds of Leixlip Castle. The building is of some social and historical significance, attesting to the expansion of the estate in the late eighteenth to accommodate use as a gentleman’s residence. The viewing platform is one of a group of recreational structures in the grounds that also includes a folly (11804055/KD-11-04-55). The rubble stone construction is a feature shared in common with further buildings in the grounds and is representative of the traditional economic method of building at the time. The boat house is distinguished by the domed roof having a striking red brick chimney stack on a polygonal plan, and is an attractive, if subtle, landmark on the bank at the confluence of the Rye Water from the north-west with River Liffey to the east.