Plans for a new visitor entrance to Muckross House, one of Ireland's leading tourist attractions, will see the public using a rear courtyard or servants' entrance in what was once the stable yard.
VIPs and corporate clients will be able to use the gracious, stepped front entrance.
The redesign, now with Kerry County Council, is to enable universal access, a spokesman has said.
The mayor of Killarney and members of the Killarney National Park liaison committee are calling for the old entrance to be retained for the public, alongside the new wheelchair entrance.
There is also concern that the new entrance will entail the bulk of visitors to the house passing in front of a stylish cafe and craft shop, opened in recent years, instead of the traditional jarvey stand.
Each year some 180,000 people visit the Victorian mansion, which in 1861 hosted Queen Victoria and a large retinue during her trip to Killarney.
Muckross House is now the fourth busiest visitor attraction managed by the Office of Public Works, after the Rock of Cashel, Brú na Bóinne and Kilkenny Castle.
Built with specially-imported Portland stone in the early 1840s for the Herbert family, the house has seen many of its rooms restored to their original period grandeur. It is managed by a charitable trust company in conjunction with the Department of the Environment and the OPW. Its 11,000 acres now form part of the Killarney National Park.
As well as being open to the public, the house is the venue for a small number of classical musical events in the drawing room and library areas; there is a growing demand for corporate evening entertainment, such as wine and music receptions. A site currently under construction on its web page will provide details of corporate hire.
The new entrance arose because of the need for wheelchair or universal access, chief executive Pat Dawson said.
Kerry County Council advised against constructing a ramp alongside the entrance to the listed building, so it was decided to construct a lift area including wheelchair accessible toilets in the courtyard, Mr Dawson explained.
Until recent years this area had been used as a shop and cafe, and the new entrance would "revitalise the courtyard" and lead to extra rooms being restored for the public. Mr Herbert's business room, a Victorian office, would be restored.
Mayor of Killarney Brian O'Leary, chairman of the liaison committee, said it did not take rocket science to have two entrances for everybody. Muckross jarveys' representative on the liaison committee welcomed wheelchair access, but expressed concern about closing the main entrance and "opening it only for VIPs".
The liaison committee held an emergency meeting with senior National Parks and Wildlife management and OPW officials last night to outline concerns.