house — Merrion Square

Attached three-bay four-storey former house over basement, built c. 1765, having one and two-storey additions to rear. Now in use as offices. M-profile pitched slate roof with skylights and having lantern to valley, hidden behind brick parapet with granite coping, and shouldered brick and rendered chimneystack with clay pots to east. Flemish bond brown brick walls over granite stringcourse above first floor sill level, rusticated granite walls to ground floor and painted rendered walls to basement; rendered to rear. Square-headed window openings, diminishing in height to upper floors, with rendered reveals, painted granite sills and timber sliding sash windows, margined one-over-two pane to ground floor, nine-over-nine pane to first floor, six-over-six pane to basement and second floor and three-over-three pane to top floor. Decorative wrought-iron balconettes to first floor, cast-iron window-guards to ground floor and wrought-iron railings to basement. Segmental-headed door opening with rendered linings, fluted frieze and moulded cornice on engaged Ionic columns, and having plain fanlight, fluted archivolt and eight-panel timber door with brass furniture. Limestone platform with cast-iron boot-scrapes and three bull-nosed granite steps. Wrought-iron railings enclosing basement area with decorative wrought and cast-iron corner posts on carved granite plinth. Interior stated by Casey to have much original joinery and cornices, including acanthus cornice to stair hall, Rococo cornice with flower baskets, feeding birds and festoons to rear first floor room, and other elements. Rear of plot has garden to middle part and later buildings to rearmost part, with rendered rear boundary wall.