County councillors in Kerry have unanimously decided to delist an early 19th-century house with strong links to the slate quarry at Valentia, despite objections from three national heritage bodies, writes Anne Lucey in Killarney.
The decision to remove the protect status of the building also went against the advice of independent consultants commissioned by the council, as well as the council's own planners.
Delisting Dungail House, a prominent building overlooking the harbour at Knightstown, will pave the way for its demolition and the construction of a tourism-related facility comprising restaurant, craft shop and apartments by a local developer.
The building had been allowed to run down, the consultants noted in their report.
The Irish Georgian Society said yesterday councillors in a significant number of local authorities favoured development over heritage. Ms Mary Bryan, heritage officer and IGS chief executive, said the fault lay in the planning system where councillors could overturn expert advice. "Heritage issues should be part and parcel of planning decisions."
The building probably housed workers at the quarry in the early 1800s. The unique Valentia slate roofed the Paris Opera House, the Houses of Parliament in London and other famous buildings.
The independent report by Cork-based Jack Coughlan architects and conservation consultants, noted the three-bay two storey detached house made extensive use of local Valentia slate "as a roofing material, in large paving slabs and in a number of slate chimney pieces, now lost.
"The building itself has been very poorly maintained and subject to heavy-handed treatment in the careless removal of the important slate chimney pieces, but most of its features remain relatively intact and it is not beyond repair.
"The Venice Charter of 1964 makes it clear that once a site is recognised as having importance, then very serious consideration should be given to removing that recognition," the report said.
Many attractive 19th-century buildings in Knightstown were under-used and consideration should be given to reusing existing under-utilised building stock "within this historically significant setting" for new tourist facilities rather than demolition or replacement of buildings.
The planned delisting has been on public display. There were two submissions in favour of the delisting, one from the developer and another from the chairman of the local tidy town's committee.
Mr Paudie Lynch, a director of James Lynch Construction Ltd and a Valentia native, said he and his brother, Séamus, a fellow director, were proud of their island heritage and conscious of its protection.
"The living community is the most important part of our heritage and it is vital that a balance be struck to allow that community to live and sustain itself," he said in his submission.