shop/retail outlet

Terraced eight-bay two-storey over basement with attic storey department store with single-bay three-storey pedimented breakfront, dated 1899. Renovated, c.1970, with new shopfront added to ground floor. Pitched natural slate roof with red brick chimneystacks to either end and decorative cast-iron rainwater goods. Rendered walls with stucco detailing, including pilasters, cornice, string course and raised stucco lettering. Square-headed window openings with timber fixed pane windows with four pane bottom-hung casements over to first floor, replacement windows above to dormer range. Moulded stucco surrounds to first floor openings. Shopfront to ground floor, c.1970, with fixed-pane windows with chrome detailing over limestone plinth. Extensive basements with brick vaulting below. Road-fronted.

This is an imposing and substantial purpose-built commercial building that retains its early form and character. This fine structure occupies a prominent corner site towards the centre of Athlone and is a landmark building on Church Street. It dates from the period when big department stores in town centres were becoming fashionable around the turn of the twentieth century. The stucco detailing, typical of the period, and the elaborate collection of cast-iron rainwater goods are noteworthy features of artistic merit.