A U-turn by State heritage officials has paved the way for JP McManus's five-star Adare Manor hotel and golf resort to proceed with contentious expansion plans.
Last month, proposals by the resort – slated to host the 2026 Ryder Cup – to construct a new 40-space car park were put on hold after the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht lodged an appeal against the decision by An Bórd Pleanála to give the project the green light.
The department intervened over concerns about the impact the proposed development could have on historic structures in the town of Adare, Co Limerick and, in particular, a medieval wall. However, it has now withdrawn the appeal.
Explaining its decision, a department spokeswoman said it had received “binding undertakings” concerning the town’s historic defences.
She said: “Having received binding undertakings from the developer that, in the event of any such remains being found in the course of pre-construction archaeological test excavation, they will be preserved, the Department was satisfied that the appeal was no longer warranted.”
The Adare hotel company, Tizzard Holdings, lodged an archaeological assessment with the plans and it concluded that it is not considered likely that the proposed development will cause any direct or visual impact to any identified archaeological monuments.
It did state, however, that as the proposed development site is 15 metres from the town defence, it is considered that there is a possibility that previously undocumented subsurface archaeological features might exist within the boundary of the development.
As part of its permission, Limerick City and County Council attached a number of conditions aimed at protecting the archaeology at the site, including one that if an archaeological survey finds artefacts prior to work starting, an expert could halt the project pending a decision on how best to deal with the find.
