Council to repair protected Ennistymon buildings

Clare County Council is to carry out repair works on two derelict protected buildings in Ennistymon that its roads engineers want to demolish to make way for a roundabout on the road to Lahinch.

Following appeals from the Save Ennistymon’s Heritage campaign, architectural conservation officer Risteárd UaCróinín said he had been “assured that works will be carried out on the roof and exteriors in the next few weeks”.

He told The Irish Times that the council had been “giving priority to works to ease public hardship by the repair of serious storm damage to the west coast infrastructure due to incessant storms and unprecedented high tides since December”.

The two buildings at “Blake’s Corner” have been vacant since they were acquired by the county council several years ago. The intention was that they would be demolished and rebuilt further back to remove a bottleneck on the tourist route to Lahinch.

However, because both buildings had already been designated as protected structures, the council could only proceed with the demolition plan if it got permission from An Bord Pleanála - and no such application to the board has yet been made.

The sagging roof of Blake’s, clad in heavy Liscannor slate, is now “in a perilous state and in danger of collapsing,” according to Denis Vaughan, spokesman for Save Ennistymon’s Heritage, who said the council was legally obliged to protect the buildings.

Windows on both buildings are broken, as are the skylights of Linnane’s next door to Blake’s, allowing rainwater to flow into the interior. “They should carry out urgent repairs to Blake’s roof forthwith before someone is killed”, Mr Vaughan said.

The local heritage campaigners want Clare County Council to revive its long-standing plans for a bypass of Ennistymon, arguing that this would allow the buildings at Blake’s Corner to be retained as key elements of the town’s architectural heritage.