Bank of Ireland

This very well-detailed and well-proportioned Mid-Victorian bank building retains its original form and character, and is one of the best examples of its type in Donegal. The attractive polychromatic front elevation with grey\green snecked basalt construction, red ashlar sandstone quoins, surrounds to the openings and stringcourses, and carved pale limestone fascia\frieze panel and eaves course with foliate motifs helps to create an extremely appealing and colourful façade that has a strong presence in the streetscape of Letterkenny. The carved stone detailing is of a very high standard and is clearly the work of skilled masons. The pronounced cut stone canopies to the porches to either end of the front elevation with balustraded parapets over, and the carved marble columns with carved sandstone Corinthian capitals over flanking the doorways and to the centre of the pair window openings at ground floor level, adds additional decorative interest to the complex front facade. The ornamental façade demonstrates the significant investment made in the aesthetics of such buildings, and continues to distinguish the building within its urban environment. The imposing nature of this structure is in keeping with its purpose-built function as a bank. It has a commanding presence in the streetscape, reflecting the period when bank buildings were designed to express the solidity and wealth of the institution through their architecture. The two-storey form with the banking hall at ground floor level and formerly with bank manager’s residence above is a typical feature of many contemporary bank buildings. Its visual expression and integrity is enhanced by the retention of salient fabric such as the timber sliding sash windows and the natural slate roof. This building originally had additional chimneystacks to the north and south ends of the front elevation, and pronounced finials to the apexes of the hipped roof; later removed c. 1993. An attractive carved limestone plaque to the centre of the first floor has the monogram ‘HJSC’, the only surviving reference to its original function as a branch of the Hibernian Bank, which was formed in 1870 just before this fine structure was erected. The Hibernian Bank were noted for utilising architecture to encourage new business and for introducing a quasi-religious feel to their architecture that they hoped would appeal to the rising wealth of Catholic merchants, business people etc. The detailing to this fine bank building in Letterkenny has this vaguely religious and quasi Gothic architectural character promoted by the Hibernian Bank, and is one of the better buildings commissioned by this bank in the 1870s and 1880s. It was built to designs by Timothy Hevey (1846-78), a Dublin-born architect who was considered the lead Catholic architect based in Belfast during the 1870s. Hevey was commissioned to build a number of Catholic churches in Donegal by the Bishop of Raphoe in the 1870s with his fine church at Dunlewey the most notable of these buildings. The foundation stone for this bank was laid in October 1874 and it opened for business in 1876. The main contractors involved were Collen Bros of Portadown and Dublin, and it was constructed at an estimated cost of £2,000 (exclusive of decoration). It became a Bank of Ireland bank in 1969 with the merger of The National Bank of Ireland, Hibernian and Bank of Ireland to form the Bank of Ireland Group. Occupying a prominent site to the south of the centre of Letterkenny, this fine building is an integral element of the built heritage of Donegal The good-quality cast-iron gates and railings with wrought-iron detailing, and the gateway to the north side with elaborate sandstone gate piers, add significantly to the setting and context, adding further decorative interest to the streetscape.