Work on the €4 million restoration of Blackrock Castle in Cork is nearing completion. Cork City Council has confirmed it is shortly to seek tenders for a franchise operator to run an astronomy centre and a restaurant and pub at the site.
The council has engaged specialists to advise on the most appropriate layout for an exhibition area in the castle which will feature the astronomy centre.
Blackrock Castle was originally built in the late 16th century when the citizens of Cork appealed to Queen Elizabeth I to build a fort in Blackrock "to repel pirates and other invaders". It is on the southern side of the River Lee and is one of Cork's landmark buildings.
The current neo-Gothic building dates from about 1830.
After many years in private ownership it had lain idle for three years and had fallen into disrepair when Cork city councillors agreed to buy the castle.
The council paid £825,000 for the property and now, three years on, following extensive work by conservation architects Murray O'Laoire, the project is nearing completion and the castle is expected to be opened to the public by September.
The castle will house a high-tech robotic observatory operated by Cork Institute of Technology. It will feature two high-power telescopes, an optical telescope which will be placed on the castle's top tower and a radio telescope which will be located over the gallery room.
A fully-equipped operations room will also be set up where experts can download and interpret the telescope data, while the observatory will be linked with other observatories around the world.
It is expected that the astronomy centre will prove particularly popular with both primary and secondary schools who will be able to visit the centre, as well as link up with the observatory through the internet.
Cork city manager Joe Gavin confirmed that Cork City Council has applied to the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources for a foreshore licence to fill in an area near the castle to create a car park and amenity area.
He said there is an area of slobland there which the council hopes to develop as a car park and an amenity area so the Loughmahon Walk can be brought up to the castle. It is hoped that a boardwalk can then be developed from the castle up to the pier in Blackrock village.