castle and demense under threat

bogwalrus

Hi all

I am looking for some advice. I run privately a visitor information point for a castle and demesne that is owned and managed by a number of Trustees who are business men of the town.

For the last 80 years all sorts have been built on the property right near the castle destroying the historical grounds where large battles were fought as far back as the 8thc up to the 19thc. Brian ború. Most of you will know the area I am talking about but I don't want to say too much in case the trustees get wind of something.

Recently planning permission was approved for an all weather pitch and a 3rd story on a current school building.

This would seriously ruin the environment of the castle and demesne.

I want this land to be a protected property as well as the castle remains.


I have a three year plan to develop the castles image and communicate its fascinating history to visitors of the town.


Is there any advice on how I can get some sort of protection for the demesne and grounds so no more bloody apartments etc get built ruining what is a very interesting and beautiful castle/demesne.

Thanks for any help you might provide,

boggy

Kristopherus

Contact An Taisce.

slowburner

No harm in making contact with the Heritage council either.
http://www.heritagecouncil.ie/about-us/about-us/

jimmyarch

contact the National Monuments Service!

http://www.archaeology.ie/ContactUs/

bogwalrus

I emailed an Taisce and National Monuments service. I also contacted the Irish Heritage trust.

I'll email the heritage council today. There really is a lot of organisations. Are not some of them the same? Or should they just make one organisation?

robp

bogwalrus wrote: »

I emailed an Taisce and National Monuments service. I also contacted the Irish Heritage trust.

I'll email the heritage council today. There really is a lot of organisations. Are not some of them the same? Or should they just make one organisation?

The NMS provide regulation of the archaeological profession and statuary protection to monuments, while the An Taisce are a rather democratic charity that assists in planning often from a scenic or environmental point of view which the NMS has no remit over, as well as heritage.

I imagine you will be redirected to just one of them, unless the site is a special case such it is of special value or if a law has been broken.

bogwalrus

Should the castle and demesne be protected under some law by default because it is a castle and because of its history?

Tordelback

Default protection is afforded under the National Monuments Acts in the form of a legal requirement to notify the National Monuments Service 90 days in advance of any proposed works in the vicinity of a recorded monument, which any upstanding castle would be. The NMS will advise the local authority with regard to any grant of Planning Permission, and if it is felt that the planning process will not provide sufficient protection the Minister can impose a Preservation Order (although the latter step is pretty rare), which would make any future works at the site dependent on the Minister's consent.

In this instance contacting the NMS (the responsible national-level body) is a good first step, as well as An Taisce, who can be a lot more pro-active than the understaffed and policy-hamstrung NMS. If you are lucky your County Council might also have a Heritage Officer who would be familiar with the site and a source of good advice. Even without a dedicated Heritage Officer the local authority should take account of any recorded sites in any planning decision - have a look at the lcoal development plan for what measures they have committed to, as well as a listing for your specific site.

The Heritage Council does have an advisory role, but in the more general sense of guiding policy and research rather than individual planning issues, and anyway its budget has been obliterated and it is facing an uncertain future.

All that said, the conclusion of these kinds of situations all too frequently simply involve a grant of planning permission contingent on 'archaeological mitigation', ie archaeological excavation prior to construction, which wouldn't help the OP much. Just look at Trim Castle.

Gee Bag

If you want to stop development proceeding then you need to object to the application for planning permission through the local authority. If planning permission has already been granted then it is too late to do this.
You should be able to look up any planning application on the relevant local authority website

bogwalrus

So the building cant be stopped.

There is also not going to be any archaeological digging which is a pity.

I met a builder who worked on the school when they were putting on an extension a few years back.

He told me that they found muskets, loads of armour and human bones but did not notify anyone so continued filling the grounds with concrete on top of the archaeology.

These could have been remains of the big battle between Brian Ború and Danish Chieftan Molloy.

I am sure there would be some interesting finds if they did a proper dig inside the grounds before they built on top of it.

ezra_pound

bogwalrus wrote: »

So the building cant be stopped.

There is also not going to be any archaeological digging which is a pity.

I met a builder who worked on the school when they were putting on an extension a few years back.

He told me that they found muskets, loads of armour and human bones but did not notify anyone so continued filling the grounds with concrete on top of the archaeology.

These could have been remains of the big battle between Brian Ború and Danish Chieftan Molloy.

I am sure there would be some interesting finds if they did a proper dig inside the grounds before they built on top of it.

The muskets I can safely say were not used in Brian borus time.

bogwalrus

Of course the muskets but maybe the armour and possibly other items that are now covered in concrete.

Maudi

bogwalrus wrote: »

Of course the muskets but maybe the armour and possibly other items that are now covered in concrete.

Shameful

.so much of our heritage bulldozed under the guise of "development"