Planning permission has been granted to change the main visitor access to Muckross House, one of the key visitor attractions in the southwest, to the rear courtyard.
It has also emerged a new "guide-only regime" is to be phased in for security reasons. This means families and individuals will no longer be allowed to wander around Muckross House but will have to join a guided tour.
The provision of the new entrance is to allow "universal access" but it will also allow the phasing in of "a guide-only regime", according to the submission to Kerry County Council by the Office of Public Works (OPW) after a request for further information.
The house, which hosted a visit by Queen Victoria and her retinue in 1861, as well as some of the 19th century's most famous writers and artists, now receives in the region of 200,000 visitors a year.
Many of these tour the house in groups of up to 40 people. Families and individuals can visit the house without a guide and this has not posed a problem until now, the OPW said.
However, "it has been decided to phase out this option" and it is proposed "all visitors in future would be provided with a guided tour of the house".
The move to guided-only tours was to protect the house's collections and to improve fire safety. It is to be phased in over a number of years and will see group sizes reduced to a maximum of 35.
The application by the Commissioners of Public Works to change the entrance has met resistance from locals and jarveys. Residents argued that the closing of the main entrance would detract from the historic features of the house.
This and other changes represented a gradual decline in the historic features of the house, they claimed in a submission. These claims have been rejected by the OPW.
Spokesman for the residents Diarmuid Cronin yesterday said they intended to appeal against the decision to An Bord Pleanála.