Apartment scheme for D4 Magdalene Laundry site gets green light

Plans by Pembroke Partnership to construct an apartment block complex on the site of a former Magdalene Laundry in Donnybrook have got the green light.

In 2017 a previous 25 unit residential plan for the site was withdrawn and the applicants for the revised plan stated that a subsequent archaeological dig at the site uncovered no burials.

Dublin City Council has granted planning permission for 44 apartments in three three-to-four storey blocks.

As part of the planning permission, the council asked that the developers put in place an appropriate memorial to honour the memory of the women who worked in the former Magdalen Laundry in a location that is accessible to members of the public.

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The council planner said that the developer has made significant efforts to acknowledge the sensitivity of the site and to record its history for posterity.

The planner said that former residents have been consulted. “These efforts are ongoing and include engagement with the National Museum of Ireland.”

The chimney stack on the site is a protected structure and will be a prominent feature in the new residential development.

The Magdalene Laundry ceased operating in 1992 when it was sold to a private company which operated a commercial laundry until 2006 and since then the site has been vacant.

Consultants for the developers, Tom Philips &Associates told the city council that “the proposal has been approached and designed in a manner that is respectful of its past and also to the structures of significance on site”.

The revisions to the scheme contributed to a comparatively low level of submissions with five lodged with the Council.

In his submission, Dr Brendan Tangney of the Crescent, Donnybrook pointed out that a number of developments were taking place in the village and said that “it is negligent in the extreme for the council to allow this very intense spurt of activity to proceed on an ad-hoc development by development basis without having an overall coherent plan”.

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