19 August 2008

Saint Patrick's College [set of 4],Maynooth, County Kildare









Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth, County Kildare
A pair of back to back alleys ( of set of 4 (2 psirs, back to back)marked on Ordnance Survey historical maps)

Last photograph and text below from National Inventory of Architectural Heritage http://www.buildingsofireland.ie/niah/search.jsp?type=record&county=KD®no=11803129
Remainder of photographs by E. Timoney, June 2010

1925 - 1935
Pair of mass-concrete ball alleys, c.1930, with rubble stone wall to south-west. Now disused.

This pair of ball alleys, which is now disused, is an attractive feature in the grounds of Saint Patrick?s College...Once a common sight across the country many of these structures have subsequently been demolished, which means that the example at Maynooth is an important and increasingly rare survival. Of considerable social and cultural importance, having been promoted as part of the cultural nation-building of the early Irish Republic, the handball alley is also of vernacular interest, being a building type that is indigenous to the country. The construction of the building using mass-concrete is also of some technical/engineering merit.

0 comments:

Post a Comment