Joined at the bar: Plans lodged for development of Adare courthouse

MORE DETAILS about the future of Adare courthouse and its proposed amalgamation with Aunty Lena’s bar have been revealed through a planning application for the development.

The local courthouse, a protected structure which has been closed for many years, will reopen as a public heritage restaurant under the banner of the neighbouring bar, and will also feature a museum.

The ground floor of the courthouse will become a dining area, as an extension of the popular restaurant in Aunty Lena’s.

The first floor, which was formerly a courthouse space, will be converted to a courthouse museum.

“Renovation of former disused public toilets for public house clientele use”, “extension of rear ancillary cold room stores” and “internal modifications to the kitchen area and other internal minor modifications to existing public house” are also on the cards if the planning application is successful.

The application also proposes that the existing outside space at the corner of Main Street and Station Road would be used as a dining patio space with a protected canopy.

If planning permission is granted, the works could be carried out in time for the summer tourist season.

But a council meeting last year heard that the new owner of the courthouse, publican Charlie Chawke, would need to get planning permission before the sale is closed.

The protected status of the courthouse could cause delays to the project if planning permission is refused for the extensive works.

The protected status relates not just to the building, but also to its ‘curtilage, fixtures and fittings’.