OPW urged to buy former tourist office for State

Galway County Council is to urge the Office of Public Works (OPW) to purchase the gate lodge of Portumna Castle instead of it passing into private hands.

The detached three-bay single-storey former gate lodge was built in 1860 and is now used as an office. The protected building is up for sale for €100,000.

Fianna Fáil Councillor Ivan Canning told this month’s Loughrea Municipal District meeting he was contacted by somebody in the UK who had discovered the one-bedroom stone building was up for sale. He believed it was owned by the semi-state forestry company Coillte.

Portumna Castle is owned by the State and is managed by the OPW.

“I don’t know what is going on. It’s a piece of history. I wouldn’t like to see it being sold for the sake of €50,000, €60,000, €100,000? Why is it being sold? Why can’t the OPW do some agreement with Coillte to take it over? It was previously the tourist office. It’s here for hundreds of years. It’s an essential part of the castle.”

Senior executive engineer Enda Mulryan said he was aware that the gate lodge was up for sale.

“It would seem to be a perfect fit for the OPW but it’s not something we have an active role in,” he stated.

Cllr Canning said he did not accept it had nothing to do with Galway County Council.

“They’re selling a piece of history in Portumna. I don’t see why Galway County Council can’t make a representation to the OPW to buy it. It will mean something to us if it’s sold into private hands.”

Mr Mulryan said he knew an OPW official in Portumna and he would write to them pointing out that it would make sense for them to purchase the building.

According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, the gate lodge is a good example of Gothic and Tudor Revival architecture with pointed openings and mouldings.

“The unusual stonework, which is cut in irregular lozenge shapes, matches the flanking walls of the associated gate sweep. It forms part of an important group with the adjacent gate lodges, gates and other garden features, all part of the demesne of Portumna Castle.”

The cottage is being sold with 0.6 of a hectare with trees.

Portumna Castle is located next to Lough Derg and Portumna Forest Park and is said to be one of the most significant residences to be built in Ireland during its time.

It was built about 1616 by Richard de Burgo (Burke), who was a descendent of the famous Norman clan – De Burgo, the 4th Earl of Clanrickarde and the Lord President of Connaught.

It’s said that it cost De Burgo a staggering £10,000 to build the castle at that time.

In 1826 the house was gutted by an accidental fire and the family moved to the stables to live there until a new castle was constructed in 1862, which was again burnt to the ground in 1922.

The last Marquis of Clanricarde sold the house to the state in 1948. The castle was carefully and extensively restored and preserved and is now one of the top visitor attractions in the west. The parklands and woods over 1,500 acres are now a wildlife sanctuary and home to lots of little animals and deer.

The three matching gate lodges were designed by Sir Richard Morrison, a prominent architect in the early 19th century.

In 2014 the number of visitors to Portumna Castle reached over 15,000.