Syngefield, country house in County Offaly

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Detached former U-plan five-bay two-storey country house, built c.1760, with single-bay added to west, with three-storey return perpendicular to rear house, three-storey lean-to extension to rear, three-storey flat-roofed extension to rear. Wings to rear have been demolished. Set within its own grounds. Now derelict. Pitched slate roof, hipped to west end with terracotta ridge tiles and rendered chimneystacks. Pitched slate roof to return with rendered chimneystack. Lean-to slate roof and flat roof to extensions. Roughcast rendered walls with wrought-iron balcony inserted to first floor of facade. Timber sash windows with tooled stone sills. Venetian window to central bay of façade and to extended western end bay. Blocked up Diocletian window opening to basement level of western end bay. Blocked up round-headed window opening to basement of façade. Round-headed entrance door opening having timber frame, timber panelled door and flanking square-headed sidelights. Stone entrance steps flanked by rendered balustrade. Demolished stone outbuilding and random coursed stone wall to rear site. Stone entrance gates to road, erected c.1710, with ashlar limestone square-profile gate piers surmounted by moulded capping and ball finials. Wrought-iron gates. Flanking blocked up square-headed pedestrian entrances stone surrounds.

Though derelict and uninhabited, this fine country house remains impressive in both design and stature. Palladian motifs including Venetian windows, entrance door and a blocked up Diocletian windows give this fine building a classically inspired character. The long avenue is accessed through tall and imposing dark limestone gate piers, which are a notable feature on the road heading south-east from Birr town.

From the Buildings of Ireland (National Inventory of Architectural Heritage) record 14935005

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Photo credits

National Inventory of Architectural Heritage
Jonathan Thacker, Geograph · CC BY-SA 2.0
Superchilum, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Maker not stated on source page, www.pinterest.com
Maker not stated on source page, in.pinterest.com

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