'The issue has dragged on too long': Cork heritage site to remain closed until 2024 at least
Barryscourt Castle, Carrigtwohill. Picture: Denis Minihane.
THE Office of Public Works (OPW) has said it cannot commit to an exact date for the reopening to the public of one of Cork’s most important heritage sites, but has said it is working toward a target of 2024, a full eight years after conservation works began there.
Barryscourt Castle in Carrigtwohill closed for extensive works in 2016, and now the OPW, responding to a parliamentary question from Cork East TD Seán Sherlock, has confirmed it will remain closed until at least next year.
The OPW said the next stage of works at the castle cannot commence without ministerial consent from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.
Barryscourt Castle was the seat of the great Anglo-Norman Barry family and is described by Heritage Ireland as “one of the finest examples of a restored Irish tower house”.
The site of the castle has been inhabited for over a thousand years, with evidence of a wooden mill there dating back to the seventh century.
Dating from between 1392 and 1420, the castle has an outer bawn wall and largely intact corner towers, with the ground floor of the Tower House containing a dungeon into which prisoners were dropped via a drop-hole located on the second floor.
The Barrys supported the Fitzgeralds of Desmond during the Irish rebellions of the late sixteenth century, and to prevent it being captured by Sir Walter Raleigh and his army, the Barrys partially destroyed the castle.
During the Irish Confederate War of the seventeenth century, Barryscourt Castle was once again attacked, and cannon balls lodged in the wall above the castle entrance bear witness to this conflict.
Barryscourt Castle has been extensively restored, with the main hall and great hall completed and fittings and furnishings reinstated.
The castle closed to the public for a major repair and conservation project in 2016 after it was discovered that damp penetration had caused the internal electrical system to become unsafe.
Responding to Mr Sherlock’s parliamentary question, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said works completed to date by the OPW included the erection of scaffolding, pointing and regrouting, lead-work and works in relation to the lowering of the ground water level around the castle.
Mr Donohoe said those labour-intensive works had been delayed by the pandemic and its related restrictions.
The next stage of works, which will require ministerial consent from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, includes the design of new mechanical and electrical systems for the Castle.
“The proposed mechanical and electrical installation works will commence when repointing and grouting work are complete on site and the building has sufficiently dried out,” Mr Donohoe said.
“To this end, OPW are currently working on the design for these new mechanical and electrical systems which will include the installation of new heating system, lighting system, fire alarm, emergency lighting, external lighting and CCTV.” Mr Donohoe said this work was at an advanced stage and it was hoped that a final design could be signed off before the end of the first quarter of this year.
That work would then go out to tender and, once a contractor was engaged, ministerial consent would then be required before the work could be carried out.
“I would like to reassure the Deputy that as soon as consent is granted, these works will be prioritised for completion,” Mr Donohoe said.
Mr Sherlock said the lack of a re-opening date was very disappointing.
“Yet again we have another barrier in place for the reopening of Barryscourt, this time through ministerial consent.
“This issue has dragged on for far too long. We need a proactive approach to opening it up again to the public and we need that ministerial consent fast-tracked,” Mr Sherlock said.
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