workhouse administration block

Detached five-bay two-storey former workhouse administration block, built 1841. Renovated c.1975 with one and two-storey extensions added to accommodate use as Regional Technical College, further extended 1996. Five large gabled dormer windows with decorative bargeboards to front façade. Pitched natural slate roof with rendered chimneystacks, central metal vent and cast-iron rainwater goods. Decorative bargeboards to gables. Constructed of dressed limestone with cut limestone drip labels over ground floor windows and a projecting ashlar string course at first floor level. Square-headed window openings with replacement windows. Central Tudor-arched doorcase with panelled timber doors, cut limestone surrounds and drip moulding above. Set slightly back from road with low parapet wall with iron railings to street-frontage.

This building was originally part of the Athlone Union Workhouse complex and was designed by George Wilkinson (1814-90) according to the standard workhouse plan and detail. It is very similar in appearance to the administration block in Mullingar, now St. Mary's Hospital (15309008). It is of historical importance for its associations with the Poor Law Unions and, particularly, with the Great Famine (1845-c.50). The building itself is of considerable design merit and the attractive stonework and Tudor detailing are picturesque features in the streetscape of Athlone. The survival of its planned form and much of its original fabric enhances the architectural significance of the complex.