workhouse

Detached seven-bay two-storey former fever ward of union workhouse, built c.1841, subsequently in use as a nurses home. Renovated c.1985. Now derelict and out of use. Pitched natural slate roof with rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods. Remains of decorative bargeboards to end gables. Constructed of coursed rubble limestone with lime render over, now failing. Cut stone air wall vents. Square-headed window openings with brick surrounds, cut stone sills and remains of two-over-two pane timber sliding sash windows to first floor. Ground floor windows mostly blocked-up. Located to northwest of former workhouse complex.

A simple mid nineteenth-century building that retains its original form and character despite its derelict condition. It is of historical and social importance as the former fever hospital associated with the Athlone Union Workhouse complex, built to standard designs by George Wilkinson (1814-90). The use of brick to the openings creates and interesting contrast with the local gray limestone masonry.