Dublin City Council — Cork Hill

Corner-sited attached three-storey ashlar limestone L-plan former bank over slightly raised basement, built c. 1781 and substantially enlarged c. 1862. Terminates east end of south side of Lord Edward Street and north side of Castle Street and facing onto Cork Hill. Façade to Cork Hill has shallow breakfront, five-bay ground floor with Ionic entrance portico and six-bay mirror-image upper floors, Castle Street elevation has three bays, and Lord Edward Street elevation (altered c. 1884) has single bay to return of main façade, with three-bay curving block set back and fronted by projecting bowed block of one storey over exposed basement added c. 1862. Pitched and hipped slate roofs, set behind balustrade, with blue-black angle clay ridge and hip tiles, ashlar limestone chimneystack to north elevation, and smooth cement rendered block-marked chimneystacks with granite cappings and yellow pots to south. Parapet gutters, with lead downpipes to south re-entrant corner of breakfront and to north elevation. Balustraded parapet with plain dies to south elevation, twin pedestals to east with egg-and-dart moulding to recessed panels, modillion-dentillated cornice and swag and roundel frieze. Ashlar Portland stone walling polished and having moulded top plinth to basement, channelled rustication to ground floor with moulded strings surmounted by moulded cornice, and polished ashlar Portland stone to first and second floors. Fluted frieze with moulded cornice at impost level to first floor. First floor openings to main façade flanked by round-headed niches and window heads are flanked by swags. North elevation east end bay has limestone drinking fountain to ground floor, with Corinthian pilasters flanking moulded round-headed niche with moulded architrave and carved key console, containing marble drinking trough with inset bronze plaque and surmounted by segmental pediment; first floor has round-headed blind window opening with moulded architrave, coat-of-arms to tympanum, balustrade to base and plaque within with raised lettering 'Lord Edward Street AD 1886'; second floor has recessed swag panel. North elevation has square-headed window openings to projecting bow, basement level having moulded reveals, wrought-iron grilles and casement windows and first floor has channel-jointed voussoirs with dropped keystones, moulded sills and timber casement windows. Set-back part of north elevation and rear of northernmost bay of main façade have square-headed window openings with margined one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows, with lugged moulded architraves, first floor openings having cornices with roundels to friezes. Square-headed window openings to ground floor of south elevation, with channel-jointed voussoirs, moulded sills and eight-over-eight pane timber sliding sashes. Main façade has square-headed window openings to ground floor, with V-jointed voussoirs and nine-over-six pane sashes, alternating with recessed round-headed openings with carved keystones, moulded archivolts and six-over-six pane sashes; recessed round-headed window openings to first floor, with moulded archivolts, balustraded dies and eight-over-eight pane sashes; square-headed window openings to second floor having lugged architraves and six-over-six pane sashes. South elevation has square-headed window openings to ground and second floors and round-headed to first floor, with similar detailing to that of main façade, except that second floor windows are eight-over-eight pane and ground floor are six-over-six pane. Original entrance hall from Castle Street leads to central stairwell on east-west axis with diagonally laid limestone paving and cantilevered staircase with wrought-iron balustrade rising to first floor, and having oblong skylight. Two oval reception rooms at first floor, that facing Cork Hill having walls articulated as blind arcade framing doors, windows and recesses and trompe l’oeil ceiling.