*Photograph: Páraic McMahon
PLANS have been lodged to turn a former Irish college in Carrigaholt into “a residential cultural and educational centre with overnight visitor accommodation”.
Coláiste Eoghan Uí Chomhraidhe successfully operated as an Irish summer residential college for over 100 years from 1912 until its closure in 2017.
Major renovations are planned for the site including an extension of the college’s main building to facilitate a new entrance and to convert several of its facilities into two-bedroom residential units for “overnight visitor accommodation”. These include the former toilet and shower block, former dorm building, wash house and class room buildings. Four bedroom accommodation is also planned for the site, in the former headmaster’s office.
The plans outline a new office and administration unit to be built in the former teacher’s building and the provision of a new multi-use games area as well as a garden and carparking.
Under the proposed development, the ground floor of the college’s main building will be renovated and contain a games room, language lab, lounge area and large communal kitchen. The existing basketball and tennis courts at the site will be lost in the construction of a new wastewater treatment system at the site.
There are plans to remove three existing tennis courts at the northern end of the site and replace these with a multi-use games are (MUGA) which will be available to the public, subject to booking. In addition to this, the grass around the college is planned to be landscaped so that it can be used for picnic areas, outdoor dining and as an outdoor meeting place.
Kilkee architects Diarmuid Keane & Associates has drawn up plans for the development and issued a planning statement detailing the proposed development. The property is situated on the seafront, overlooking the Shannon Estuary and Northern Kerry.
Coláiste Eoghain is described as a “hidden gem” but one that will “require significant investment in order to bring it up to standard for continued use both in the short term and medium to long term”.
The planning statement described Coláiste Eoghain as “an important part of the life of West Clare, where thousands of children have attended for summer Irish language learning over the course of one hundred years”. No maintenance work have been undertaken since its closure.
A Natura Impact Statement carried out by Ash Ecology and Environmental found that “None of the potential direct or indirect impacts associated with the proposed development will affect the conservation objectives of any of the qualifying interest habitats or species of the Lower River Shannon SAC”.
Clare County Council is due to make a decision on the development by the 23rd of July. Submissions and objections can be made by the public until the 2nd of July.
