A very valuable part of our Tipperary heritage that's worth saving

For centuries it stood in splendid isolation in the lush south Tipperary countryside on the banks of the Suir, overlooking the river as it wends its way towards Newcastle and Ardfinnan.
However in recent years it has been a pale shadow of its former glorious self, gone to rack and ruin, with its exposure to the elements and general state of neglect threatening the future viability of Knocklofty House, a few miles from Clonmel.
The 18th century manor house and former hotel has been in the news again recently, following its inclusion in An Taisce’s list of Ireland’s Top 10 Most-at-Risk Buildings for 2021.
An Taisce, the charity that works to preserve and protect Ireland’s natural and built heritage, says the buildings on the list are all structures of importance, both intrinsically and to the heritage of their local areas.
These are buildings that now lie vacant and are in such a state of disrepair that they may be dangerous or have no identifiable new use. These buildings could be lost to future generations unless direct action is taken now to preserve them, An Taisce has warned.
The establishment of a Facebook campaign group last April acted as a lightning rod for the groundswell of concern, dismay and anger among the local community over the rapidly deteriorating condition of Knocklofty House.
The removal of copper and lead from the roof has left it exposed to wind and rain, which has only hastened its sad decline. There is a huge level of disrepair in the interior of the building, while its grounds were used as a dump for all kinds of rubbish for years.
It’s all a far cry from the house’s halcyon era, when it was owned by Lord and Lady Donoughmore. Knocklofty was built in 1790, with further additions completed in the 19th and 20th centuries.
At its peak, it was regarded as one of the great Anglo-Irish mansions in Munster.
It earned national headlines in June 1974 when Lord and Lady Donoughmore were kidnapped from the property by the IRA as part of a ransom plot. The high regard in which the couple were held locally was reinforced by a well-attended public meeting in Clonmel that called for their immediate release. The couple were released unharmed in Dublin’s Phoenix Park five days later, having formed an unlikely bond with their abductors.
Seven years after being kidnapped, the seventh Lord Donoughmore died in 1981 and soon afterwards Knocklofty was placed on the market.
In 1984 the house and 105 acres were bought for £750,000 and sections of it developed as apartments in a timeshare scheme, then a new concept in Ireland, while the rest was turned into a hotel.
A nine-hole golf course was installed in the grounds, while a swimming pool in the building and other facilities including tennis and squash courts were created.
Initially the business seemed to go well but within a decade it had failed badly. In October 1991 the property was placed on the market with an asking price of £1.5 million.
Failing to secure a buyer, Knocklofty went into receivership and in 1993 was again advertised for sale, this time with an expected price of £500,000- £600,000.
There were no takers, so at the end of the year it was once more offered on the market, this time with a disclosed reserve of £360,000, less than half of what had been paid for it a decade earlier, and less than a quarter of the asking price in 1991. It was eventually sold to a local businessman. The house was operational until 2012, while the adjoining gym and leisure centre closed about six years ago.
The house is listed as a protected structure under Tipperary County Council’s existing County Development Plan, as well as being included in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage for its artistic, historical, social and architectural significance.
Knocklofty’s historical connection to wealthy Anglo-Irish aristocracy may not sit comfortably with some. However as a hotel, restaurant and leisure centre, this is a building that served its community well for decades.
Irrespective of its origins, it is an intrinsic part of our heritage, a legacy of an imperial past, as much as those many red post boxes embossed with a royal crown that were inherited from British rule and subsequently covered with a coat of green paint, and which are still visible on our streets.
Cancel culture, that modern form of ostracism, shouldn’t be allowed to obliterate reminders of the country’s past, a past that eventually led to its emergence into a fully-fledged republic that now sits proudly in the company of other independent nations around the world.
A planned visit to Knocklofty House by Malcolm Noonan, Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, scheduled for last summer, never took place, which suggests that the campaign to rescue this historic building may not be a priority in Government circles.
But surely the Government, working with Tipperary County Council and the building’s owner, must accept that the repair and restoration of Knocklofty House is a matter of urgent concern.

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