New hotel planned for Clonmel town centre

Plans have been drawn up for a new 114-bedroom hotel on the site of the former Clonmel Arms Hotel.

Planning permission for the long-awaited development in the town centre has been sought from Tipperary County Council by Waterford-based Fewer, Harrington and Partners, architects, planners and project managers, on behalf of Michael Ryan and Michael Cronin.

The new hotel will include dining, bar, conference and function facilities, as well as a basement car park and leisure centre.

The Clonmel Arms closed thirteen years ago and the site, which straddles O'Connell Street, Sarsfield Street, Quay Street and Blue Anchor Lane, has been an eyesore in recent years.  

News of the development will be welcomed throughout the town and county.

The landmark town centre site, which closed as a hotel in November 2005, was sold by NAMA almost two years ago to a consortium that includes Dungarvan-based Michael Ryan.

For many years the Clonmel Arms was one of the finest and best-known hotels in the area and an important social hub in the town centre. 

It thrived under the ownership of Brendan Pettit - who died last August - and his family, who ran the hotel from the 1970s until its sale in the 1990s.

During that halcyon era the hotel hosted a wide range of functions, from weddings and parties to company "socials", dinner dances and music events, as well as popular discos.

Under the direction of Mr. Pettit, who died at his home in Glengarriff, Co. Cork, the Clonmel Arms established a reputation far and wide for all that was best in the hotel industry.

The condition of the building has been a source of concern for some time now, amid claims in recent years that the empty and dilapidated building was being used as a drink and drugs den.

However this week's news signals the start of a bright, new future for the site.