7.4 Acres at Kilcormac, Co. Offaly.

Leahy Midland Auctioneers & BER Assessors are delighted to bring to the market 7.4 acres of Agricultural Land located at Kilcormac Co. Offaly.

Please note that the Sale of Spring Garden House and Farmyard was withdrawn from the Market.

The Spring Garden House and Farmyard is a notably complete complex evolving over the late Georgian and Victorian period, with most fabric and finishes intact. It is a good example of a modest gentleman’s farm house with attached dispensary and farm complex, located on the fringe of the village core.

The attached farmyard is a good example of a courtyard complex of outbuildings, which has some

fine examples of stone masonry, reflective of the importance of farming activity to the occupants

and within the surrounding area. The physical characteristics of the buildings are reflective of the

changes in building fashions and technology which span the late Georgian to the later Victorian

periods.

The main house shows evidence of at least two phases of rebuilding or remodelling, although the

late Georgian core appears to be intact. It is representative of the simple architecture of County

Offaly, in the form of a plain symmetrical box with hipped roof, clipped eaves and modest

adornments confined to a timber rope moulding around the door. The rope moulding is usual in the

regional context, although examples of the type are seen elsewhere.

The house has connections with the Stoney family, a prosperous landowning Protestant family, who

were significant landlords in the area. Although the Kilcormac Stoneys were something of an outlier

within the wider Stoney genealogy, Spring Garden House is an example of the wider economic

structure of rural Irish society in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It is also representative of

the role of the Irish Land Commission in the first part of the twentieth century.

The configuration of the house and annexe are indicative of the late nineteenth century mix of uses

of the house as a combined residence and dispensary while under the ownership of the former

Deputy Surgeon General Andrew Acres Stoney, who operated as a local doctor after his retirement.

The house therefore had an important community and social function.

The farm, associated walled garden and well are indicative of the self-sufficiency which was

embedded in prosperous nineteenth-century Irish farm dwellings. The spread of uses listed in

primary documentation gives insight as to the working of a substantial, if modest, gentleman’s farm.

Interior finishes, fittings and fixtures are significant in terms of the phasing and development of the

house, and the work of artisan craftspeople in the nineteenth century. The mural and graffiti are significant aspects of the interior of the house. The mural is reflective of the farming concerns of the Stoney family, how they viewed themselves and their connection with the surrounding land. The graffiti tells of a later phase of the history of the house, social and political context, and the concerns of subsequent owners.

The complex has present-day significance as a substantial vacant site in close proximity to the town

of Kilcormac, comprised of high-quality historic buildings and land, which may contribute to the

quality and amenity of the built environment.

There are associations with military heritage as well as links to national and international

engineering heritage. Although commensurate with its status, the house also tells an interesting

story of the women who were associated with it, particularly Anne Dunne and the women in the

wider Stoney family.