11 January 2021

Victorian-era shops
add to the colour and
variety of Askeaton

A Victorian-era former shop at the bridge in Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

The cold winter days in recent weeks have brought beautiful, clear blue skies and bright sunshine that have helped to highlight the details of some of the Victorian-era former shops and houses in Askeaton, Co Limerick.

They are integral components of the Victorian streetscape of Askeaton and contribute to its visual attractiveness. But they are often overlooked in favour of the more dramatic architectural buildings in the town, such as the Castle, the churches, the parochial house and the old rectory, the bank and the library.

The three-storey former shop standing on the north-west corner of the bridge on the River Deel and below the ruins of Askeaton and the open space of the West Square, is an example of these well-built Victorian buildings.

This is a semi-detached three-bay, three-storey house and former shop and was built ca 1850. Although the shop has long been incorporated into the house, this building maintains its classical proportions and form along with many original and early feature that add to its character and architectural interest.

We can see examples of these features in this building in the varied types of sliding sash windows, which range from the three-over-six pane to the six-over-six pane type.

The door and its overlight enhance the classical-style architecture of the building. The retention of the simple display window is as a reminder of the small-scale, family-run commercial activity that was typical of Askeaton and towns of its size all across Ireland.

The building has a pitched slate roof and rendered chimneystacks, and there are rendered walls. The windows have square-headed openings, with three-over-six pane timber sliding sash windows on the second floor, six-over-six pane windows on the first floor, and a fixed window on the ground floor. All these windows with painted stone sills.

There is a limestone threshold at the front door, which is a timber panelled door set in a square-headed opening, with a render surround and a multiple-pane glazed overlight over the door.

The west end of Church Street includes many two-storey terraced buildings with rendered and painted fronts that date mainly from the mid-19th century.

These buildings have a mixture of commercial and residential use, and often they were family-run shops, with the family living above and behind the shop. Some of them have been sold in recent years, and one has been refurbished and renovated in recent months.

A colourful terrace of former 19th century family-run shops in Askeaton (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Stewick House, a former
Famine workhouse on
a hillock near Askeaton

Stewick House stands in crumbling isolation on a hillock in Ballyengland, seast of Askeaton, Co Limerick (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Patrick Comerford

Stewick House is an interesting site on the main road into Askeaton, Co Limerick, standing in crumbling isolation on a hillock in Ballyengland, south of the N69 road from Limerick and east of Askeaton.

It has a strong impact on the landscape and was originally built as country house ca 1790 for a branch of the Hewson family of nearby Castle Hewson. But Stewick House is still remembered in the area as Famine-era ‘workhouse’ in the mid-19th century.

After visiting Castle Hewson last week, two of us visited the crumbling Stewick House, or Stewick Fort. It stands on land owned by the O’Shaughnessy family, and local lore also says hidden treasure was once hidden on the site.

Although the house is now crumbling and in a state of disrepair, it remains an imposing, landmark building, and it retains much of its original imposing form, including the courtyard that adds context and heightens the impact of the building.

Architectural features in the buildings include cut limestone sills, surrounds and voussoirs, which indicate a high level of craft and skill in the original building of the house and its former importance in this area.

Stewick House was built in the 1790s for a branch of the Hewson family of nearby Castle Hewson (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

This is a detached, L-plan, six-bay, two-storey country house, built ca 1790. It has a split-level main block with a multiple-bay two-storey block to east.

There is a square-profile single-storey porch at the north side of the extension. The hipped slate roof has terracotta ridge tiles, and there are rendered chimneystacks and cast-iron rainwater goods.

Th multiple-bay block has a pitched slate roof and red brick chimneystacks. There are roughcast rendered walls, and rubble stone can be seen in places.

There are square-headed window openings throughout, with cut limestone sills and red brick voussoirs, some with one-over-one pane timber sliding sash windows, and some with timber framed windows.

There are segmental-arched window openings on the north side of the rear block and the east side of the main block, with red-brick voussoirs.

The square-headed window openings on the east side of the main block have cut limestone surrounds and voussoirs, some with timber battened doors.

The square-headed opening on the west side of the porch has a timber battened door.

Outbuildings surround the courtyard at the rear.

The boundary wall has a segmental-arched opening at the north of courtyard with a cut limestone surround, voussoirs and a keystone.

The Poor Law Commissioners leased Stewick House afrom George and Laura Hewson in 1848 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

Stewick House was built for a branch of the Hewson family of nearby Castle Hewson. William Hewson was living at Castle Hewson in the 1840s, while Stewick House was the home of his brother, George Hewson, a barrister, and his wife Laura (née Brown), daughter of John Southwell Brown of Shannonview, near Ballysteen.

At the height of the Great Famine of 1845-1849, the Poor Law Commissioners leased Stewick House and 10 acres, including the out-offices, from George and Laura Hewson in 1848 at annual rent of £75.

In the previous year, when the Rathkeale Board of Guardians met in the boardroom of Rathkeale workhouse in October 1847, 3,000 ‘peasants’ from Glin, Shanagolden, Pallaskenry and Askeaton surround the institution and demand assistance from the master. The crowd tried to demolish the poorhouse and, according to the Limerick Chronicle, ‘rioted on the military.’

The members of the Rathkeale Board of Guardians resigned later that month to protest against the policy of making the most vulnerable categories of paupers leave the shelter of the workhouses.

Stewick House was planned as a model agricultural school for boys (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

However, Stewick was not one of the customary workhouses as we think of them. There was a workhouse in Askeaton at Brewery Lane, and Stewick House became a model agricultural school for boys under the age of 15.

William Bourke, former master of the workhouse in Rathkeale, was appointed the master of the agricultural school at Stewick in March 1849, with an annual salary of £20. At the same time, his wife Martha was the matron of the auxiliary workhouse in Askeaton, with an annual salary of £15. Dr Robert de Zouche was appointed physician to both workhouses with an annual salary of £40.

There was at least one outbreak of cholera in the Ballyengland workhouse, and Askeaton was hit by an outbreak of cholera in the Spring of 1849. Dr White contracted cholera during these outbreaks, but survived and later died in Limerick in 1856.

The agricultural school continued until 1854 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

William Bourke was replaced in 1850, and the workhouse in Ballyengland became a model farm that was to ‘instruct the boys in the most improved and useful principles and practice of agriculture.’

The model farm and school were supported by the Commissioners of National Education, who provided gratuities to the teachers and donated books. The ten acre farm produced turnips, carrots, parsnips, flax, barley, onions, leeks and cabbages.

The board of guardians leased a further 15 acres from the widowed Laura Hewson in 1852, bringing the total acreage of the farm to 25 acres. There were three paid staff members: the master or schoolmaster, an assistant schoolmaster and a steward. Along with about 70 ‘pauper boys’ on the farm, there were 23 adult ‘inmates’ in the workhouse. The workhouse residents in Ballyengland were known were referred to as ‘inmates’ rather than patients or residents.

The agricultural school continued until 1854, when the residents and the boys were moved back to main workhouse in Rathkeale, which was built near Holycross, north of Rathkeale, in 1841.

There was at least one outbreak of cholera in the Ballyengland workhouse (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)

The story of Ballyengland Auxiliary Workhouse is told by Morty Wallace in the 2019 edition of ABC News, the annual magazine of the Askeaton/Ballysteen Community Council Munitir na Tíre (pp 89-91).

The farm produced turnips, carrots, parsnips, flax, barley, onions, leeks and cabbage (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2021)