Suirvale, Cahir, Co Tipperary
Mark Bence-Jones. A Guide to Irish Country Houses (originally published as Burke’s Guide to Country Houses volume 1 Ireland by Burke’s Peerage Ltd. 1978); Revised edition 1988 Constable and Company Ltd, London.
p. 267. “(Smith/IFR; Gardner/IFR) A two storey three bay gable-ended house, of C18 appearance, but said to incorporate an earlier priest’s house, joined by a two bay dormer-gabled link to a projecting storey wing containing a large drawing room. External shutters; hood moulding over centre first floor window of original house.”
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Detached house, built c.1780, comprising three-bay two-storey main block with attic, lower slightly recessed two-bay single-storey with dormer floor middle block with porch and having projecting higher two-storey block further to east. Pitched slate roof to main block, hipped to middle block and half-hipped to east block, with rendered chimneystacks. Painted rendered walls to main block, painted roughcast rendered walls to other blocks. Square-headed openings with one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows, tripartite to east block and ground floor of middle block, six-over-six pane and nine-over-six pane to rear of main block and two-over-four pane to attic of main block, all with painted limestone sills. Square-headed doorway to main block with timber panelled door and decorative glazed and cast-iron overlight, with limestone steps. Multiple-bay two-storey stables to east having single-storey flat-roofed extension to south, with half-hipped slate roof, painted roughcast rendered walls and square-headed openings with timber fittings to windows and timber battened half-doors. Pair of square profile ashlar limestone piers with moulded carved caps having double-leaf cast-iron gates with painted rendered boundary walls having limestone coping and blocked up flanking pedestrian entrances.
Appraisal
This house, although having a late eighteenth-century core, is more typical of early nineteenth-century houses. The chimneystacks to the gable ends are a typical feature, as are the diminishing windows which emphasise the vertical thrust of the house. The simple façade is enlivened by the delicately ornate overlight. The limestone steps to the entrance are finely carved and are a reminder of the quality of craftsmanship of the masons. The additions and extensions are distinct in their architectural styles and add a patina of age to the site. The outbuilding reflects the architecture of the addition to form an overall coherent architectural scheme. The piers are skilfully carved and enhance the setting of the house.
Irish Historic Houses 