Killaloe resort closes suddenly

Couples due to get married at a Killaloe resort next month have been left in limbo following its sudden closure.

AnnaCarriga Estate in Lough Derg on Tuesday morning notified soon to be married couples via email that had already booked the Estate as their wedding venue of its closure.

On January 6th AnnaCarriga closed temporarily for a period of two months to allow time for infrastructural works which have not yet taken place. “It is with real regret that I must inform you of the closure of Annacarriga as a holiday, leisure and events based resort due to factors beyond our control”.

Works were scheduled to be carried out on its sewerage treatment plant which was out of commission for 14 months. Untreated effluent had been discharged directly into the River Shannon which the email acknowledged was “totally unacceptable”. “The current works to the sewerage treatment plant are far from adequate, they will not restore the plant to its previously compliant condition and nothing has been done to prevent future flooding events”.

A HSE boil notice remained in place at AnnaCarriga, the reception, restaurant and function room kitchens were without running water. Requested works by the HSE and Clare County Council to secure a drinking water source were not carried out as per EPA guidelines.

Both sewerage and water supply “had a compounding negative impact on our resorts integrated holiday and leisure business, as a result AnnaCarriga can no longer possibly continue to trade,” Jeremy Mannion outlined in the correspondence to already booked customers.

Located 5km from Killaloe, AnnaCarriga Estates which came “from humble beginnings” in 1978 was a very popular wedding venue. Prior to entering receivership it boasted four star graded self catering holiday properties, a 50-berth Marina that offered the hiring of lake boats along the Annacarriga Rivers, tennis court, children’s play area, a Boathouse restaurant that was renovated in 2016 which opened from Wednesday to Sunday and a Glass Pavilion that attracted guests for meetings and conferences.

Before the construction of the holiday homes and glass pavilion, the location was used as a campsite. In November of last year, it was named as waterside wedding venue of 2018 at the Brides of Limerick awards, months previous it had been listed by online wedding magazine, One Fab Day as one of the best wedding venues in the country.

Multiple attempts by The Clare Echo to contact management of the resort this week proved to be unsuccessful.

Rory Walsh of Spire Productions is getting married next month, AnnaCarriga Estate was due to host the reception. He confirmed he had “zero contact” from the East Clare resort since mid December. “A lot of unlucky people have been left in the same boat. It’s a disaster”.

Chairperson of Clare Tourism, Eoin O’Hagan acknowledged it was a sad day for East Clare. “The Glass Pavilion they built was growing in popularity as a venue and not just for weddings. AnnaCarriga is an ideal position on the shore of Lough Derg”.