Some 485 structures are listed for protection in Co Kerry under a survey by D·chas and Kerry County Council which is currently open to public review. Owners have until November 9th to send in their objections and observations to the local authorities.
The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage (NIAH) list includes a high number of structures on the "telecommunications" island of Valentia, where a special survey was conducted by Kerry County Council to chart the unique buildings.
But the number of listed buildings in Kerry is small (the NIAH list covers structures post-1700) compared to counties where there is perhaps a higher stock of "significant" older buildings. In some counties, according to D·chas, there are plans to protect up to 963 properties drawn up to meet the terms of the Local Government (Planning and Development Act), 1999 in advance of new county development plans.
When Kerry's architectural inventory is finally complete, up to 6,000 buildings will be included, Ms Una Cosgrave, heritage officer with Kerry County Council expects.
However, the vast majority of those proposed for protection in Kerry are likely to be accepted when councillors vote in January, according to Ms Marian Counihan, acting senior staff officer in the planning department, who is overseeing the rural and small town lists.
When owners got the notices some weeks ago they picked up the phone immediately and almost all were set on objecting. People were worried they would not be able to change the wallpaper, for instance, she said.
"In many cases it is only the faτade of the building that will be preserved, and common sense will prevail." Now Ms Counihan expects objections to account for 15 per cent.
This is unlike some other counties where there is stiff resistance by property owners. Up to 80 per cent of the D·chas list is likely to be rejected in some areas, according to An Taisce.
There is also stiff resistance by some residents in urban Killarney where the local councillors will have the final say. The town has undergone radical change in the past 10 years and older residents have been appalled at the changes to the old-fashioned lanes, for instance, as the investors moved in to avail of generous tax breaks.
The slaughterhouse archway, one of the oldest structures in the town, was pulled down, and old artisan buildings which would have made quaint craftshops have been replaced in many cases by hideous three, four and five-storey town houses.
According to the planning office in Killarney there are likely to be objections to half of the 84 listed buildings.
One Killarney property owner listed who does not want her name used says "it is too little, too late" and she wants her house delisted. Even if the council insists on including her home, she will pursue the matter legally.
Part of a terrace of houses, some are listed and some are not. The council had allowed the destruction of many old and historic buildings, had permitted structures that were out of line with the streetscapes, and now it wanted to prevent owners who had preserved their properties from changing to business uses, she complains.