Five fire units were called to fight a huge fire yesterday which destroyed a large section of an annexe building at Hope Castle, overlooking Lough Muckno at Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.
The building, which is owned by Monaghan County Council, was formerly used as a hostel adjacent to the Hope Castle Hotel, but was unoccupied yesterday.
It was discovered ablaze in the early hours of the morning. Fire units from Castleblayney and the neighbouring towns were called to deal with the blaze.
They succeeded in preventing it from spreading to adjacent buildings, including the Hope Castle Hotel and other premises at the town's Castle Square.
The firemen managed to save a section of the premises as the fire was brought under control.
A Garda investigation is under way into the cause of the fire.