Plan to redevelop Bohermore sites for 140-bed hotel

A Salthill-based property developer has sought permission to demolish the former Shannon Dry Cleaners and adjoining properties in Bohermore to make way for a new 140-bedroom hotel.

The plans include the conversion of the railway tunnel under the building to a featured lounge area.

Georgina O’Mahony, the sole shareholder of Highgate Properties Ltd., has sought permission for the demolition of the fire-gutted dry cleaner building at No 80 Prospect Hill; the demolition of the house at 84 Bohermore and the rear extension of 86 Bohermore, a former pub which is a Protected Structure. No 82 Bohermore is a vacant site also included in the plans.

The plans involve the construction of a two, three and four-storey hotel over lower ground floor level in two blocks fronting onto Bohermore and the rear of the site.

There will be 139 bedrooms, reception area, dining area, two bars and office space.

A unique element of the proposal is to incorporate the former rail tunnel under the building – disused since the closure of the Galway-Clifden line in 1935 – as a lounge with café/bar overhead.

The dilapidated Protected Structure at No 86 Bohermore – once a public house – will also be integrated and used as a lounge.

Mrs O’Mahony has property investment interests in Galway, Dublin and London.

Locally, through a number of different investment vehicles, she owns the historic Island House on Gaol Road, which is the headquarters of the library service and has planning permission for a major overhaul.

Her company purchased the four-storey Woodquay Court office block in Woodquay last year and is seeking planning permission for its refurbishment.

For more on the development, see this week’s Galway City Tribune.
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