Appeal made to save Knocklofty House near Clonmel before it is lost to dereliction forever

An impassioned plea has been made to Tipperary County Council to take immediate action to save Knocklofty House outside Clonmel.
The historic house is in danger of collapse and the authority has been called on to intervene before it is too late.
A council meeting was told that the house was now in the top ten An Taisce list of most at risk structures in the country.
Members of the authority voiced their concerns about the condition of Knocklofty House at a meeting of the council on Monday.
The house was once the home of the Earl of Donoughmore, who was kidnapped by the IRA in 1974, and the house became the centre of a kidnap investigation.
The state of dereliction of Knocklofty House was raised at the meeting by Cllr Máirín McGrath.
She expressed her shock at the dramatic level of deterioration of the house and said the council needed to take action quickly to save the structure.
“The building is falling down around us. The council needs to take action to save the building,” said Cllr McGrath.
Cllr McGrath urged the council to take action regardless of the court case concerning the structure being heard in the courts.
GUARDIANS
“We cannot wait for the court decision. The council has to act.
“We are either the guardians of protected structures or we are not. We as a council cannot be afraid to take action now,” insisted Cllr McGrath.

Cllr Annemarie Ryan said Knocklofty House was a building that was steeped in history and heritage.
She described the council as key stakeholders in protecting such buildings and called on the council to act.
“In six or eight months time it might be too late. We don’t want to lose the building forever,” said Cllr Ryan.
SHAMEFUL
Cllr John Fitzgerald said it was shameful beyond words to see the level of dereliction at the property.
“It is now in a perilous state and it behoves us as a council to save the building,” said Cllr Fitzgerald.
Cllr Siobhán Ambrose said Knocklofty House needed to be brought back to the wonderful building it once was.
She queried if it was wise to be discussing the matter and asked if the building was privately owned. It was a protected building but it was not owned by the council.
Cllr Pat English said Knocklofty House was a beautiful building and told the meeting that his family members had worked there for generations.
He said it was a shame to see the level of dereliction that Knocklofty House had fallen into.
VANDALS
Cllr English said that the council as the enforcement authority for planning should take action to ensure that the dereliction was brought to a stop.
“There should be security put in there to protect it from the elements and from the vandals,” said Cllr English.
Eamon Lonergan, Director of Services for Planning and Water Services, said that the council had engaged the services of Michael O’Boyle, RIAI (Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland) Grade 1 Conservation Architect, to provide architectural conservation services in this instance.
“The planning authority has engaged with the various stakeholders and carried out inspections of the building and a further site inspection of the property is scheduled to take place before Christmas to further assess the status of the building and to determine the most appropriate course of action to address the condition of this building,” said Eamon Lonergan.
He said that the long term resolution of issues involved was complicated by an ongoing legal dispute around the ownership of the property which was currently in the High Court for determination.
“Notwithstanding this complication, following the issuing of correspondence by the planning authority under planning enforcement legislation, works have been undertaken to the roof of the structure to prevent further water ingress i.e. applying roofing felt to the flat roof section and replacement of slates on the main roof,” he said.

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