Castletown House, Ireland’s largest and finest Palladian mansion, has lain closed to the public since last September – all because of a dispute about access and parking.
Castletown House, Ireland’s largest and finest Palladian mansion, has lain closed to the public since last September – all because of a dispute about access and parking. The house, with its remarkable contents and some of the demesne lands, was rescued in the 1960s by the generosity of Desmond and Mariga Guinness, and subsequently supported by the Irish Georgian Society and volunteers. It was one of the first public-spirited conservation projects of its kind. It was managed by the Castletown Foundation and eventually taken over by the state in 1994. The Office of Public Works (OPW) continues to run it and manages the beautiful Liffeyside parkland.
In 2007, a new motorway allowed an access road and car park to be created to the north of the house on demesne lands, leased rather than bought. With this new access, the original formal avenue to the house from Celbridge village was closed to vehicular traffic, although, back in the 1970s, Kildare County Council had allowed the gates to be used as access to an adjoining estate of houses. A change of ownership of this leased demesne land last year brought about the closure of the road, but no agreement as to a continuation of the lease or the purchase of the right of way.
In September 2023, the OPW commenced work on a temporary car park in a field adjoining the main formal avenue. Local residents immediately blocked the works and the car park was not completed. They still feared vehicular access might become a more permanent issue and continued to block the gates. Subsequent negotiations between all parties have brought no solution.
The impasse continues. The house and its valuable contents are not being maintained, the public and visitors are being denied access and one of Ireland’s premier heritage sites is effectively shut down.
It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue. All parties need to reach an agreement – in the same spirit of civic pride which saved the house and desmesne over sixty years ago, and in the interest of the common good.
Peter Pearson
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