Plea to retain former home of Limerick's Bard of Thomond

LOCALS have united with writers and historians in a bid to overturn a plan to flatten the former home of a renowned city poet.

Limerick City and County Council wants to knock the home of Bard of Thomond Michael Hogan in New Road, Thomondgate, which, up until a decade ago, was a public house.

In place of this, six apartments are planned.

The fact the building was the home of Mr Hogan- who has a statue in his honour outside King John’s Castle - is commemorated with a plaque by Limerick Civic Trust.

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Local resident Pat Murphy said: “We can’t just bulldoze his memory into a skip and forget about him.”

Historian Dr Paul O’Brien added: “He is a figure of immense cultural interest in Limerick. This part of the city has been lived in for hundreds of years. When this is pulled down, what is left here? A handful of very lovely cottages but not much else.”

At last month’s metropolitan meeting, councillors approved the demolition proposal by the narrowest of margins. According to the minutes of the meeting - an official record kept by council - Sinn Fein northside councillor Sharon Benson and former local authority architect, Cllr Maria Donoghue bid to postpone the vote to allow other options to be looked at.

A counter-proposal to approve the development instead sparked a full vote of members present.

There was deadlock in the chamber, with eight votes each, meaning Fianna Fail’s Annacotty-based councillor Joe Pond, who was chairing the meeting at the time, had the deciding vote.

He opted to proceed with the development.

According to the minutes, only four of the seven northside members voted on the proposal.

Cllr Benson was joined in bidding to defer the vote by Cllr Shane Hickey-O’Mara, Social Democrats, and Aontu’s Sarah Beasley.

Independent councillor Frankie Daly voted to proceed with the development.

Metropolitan district leader, Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon and Cllr Olivia O’Sullivan did not take part in the vote, the minutes show.

Conor Sheehan was not present in the meeting, due to his election to the Dail.

His replacement, Cllr Padraigh Reale had yet to join the council at the time of the meeting.

In documents presented to members, the council’s housing section stated that retaining the former pub is “a high economical risk” to both the local authority and taxpayers.

It said following the demolition, there are plans to reconstruct the building in a similar style to what is there now, and pointed out the building as is is not a protected structure.

“Limerick City and County Council encourage the retention and refurbishment of buildings where possible. However, in the case of 52 New Road it has been found to be uneconomical and unsafe to undertake the refurbishment of the building,” they said.

This argument was rejected by Sinn Fein TD Maurice Quinlivan, who grew up in the area.

“If you travel to any city in Europe, you will see old frontages kept. It’s not rocket science, and I don’t believe it will be too cost prohibitive to do that,” he said.

Cllr Beasley confirmed she will now seek ways to stop the demolition.

“There is so much history there. I was very disappointed that councillors who do not live on the northside voted to have it demolished,” she said.

Dominic Taylor, Limerick Writers Centre, said: “We are poets and we are carrying on this tradition. We need to preserve where these poetic endeavours come from. Michael Hogan is a significant figure.”

Dr O'Brien added: “I hope there is a mechanism to stop this. Perhaps on this occasion, the council will listen to the voice of the people.”

“The most ironic thing is whenever a photograph is posted online of Limerick from the past, there is a huge lament, with people saying - 'oh, if only we'd saved that building. Here we are again, about to demolish a really important building for a couple of apartments which can safely be incorporated into the structure ” he concluded.