durrow abbey co. offaly conservation plan - Offaly County Council

EAST YARD
An inscribed date of 1833 on the centre of the
south range shows that the east yard pre-dates the
work to the house. A close examination of the twostorey
yard suggests that it was originally intended
to include east, south and west ranges. The east
range was never built, however the limestone ashlar
stones were left projecting from the wall of the
south range, in preparation for the construction of
the missing range.
The ranges were built in a plain, astylar fashion. The
external walls were faced with finely jointed limestone
ashlar blocks. Exceptional workmanship is
par ticularly evident in the arched door surrounds,
with their finely carved voussoirs. Timber windows
survive in many of the openings, likely dating from
the 1830s. Internally, a fine stable room remains
with boarded stalls, patterned brick paving, and
good quality plaster cornices.
The masonry shell of the east yard appears to be
stable and in reasonable condition. The failure of
the slate roofing has led to widespread decay to
the timber roof and floor framing. Many of the
windows survive reasonably intact, however, many
of the lights have been broken by vandals.
The east side of the yard is currently occupied by
a crudely built structure dating from the middle of
the twentieth century, built with concrete block
walls and covered with corrugated fibre-cement
roofing.
A single storey carriage house stands attached to
the nor th end of the west range. This structure
has a single arched gateway. A pair of limestone
gate piers remain at the nor thern entrance to the
yard, intact but with moderate damage and opening
East yard, south range
onto the farm lane that runs from the house to the
farm yards.
WEST YARD
The west yard stands immediately adjacent to the
east yard and includes a more complicated assembly
of structures. Two-storey ranges line the east
and west sides of the yard. A pair of single-storey
offices flank the nor th gateway into the yard, now
par tly blocked by a stone wall, under which runs an
underground millrace.
The external walls to most of the structures in the
west range were faced with ashlar limestone blocks,
however the quality of the masonry is somewhat
inferior to the work found in the east yard. Instead
of being laid in regular courses, the walls to many
structures in the west range are snecked, giving a
slightly rougher appearance, and probably reflecting
a lower status accorded to that yard.
South range, limestone projections to east South range, date stone of 1833
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