€20m to restore Lenaboy Castle in Galway

However, questions have now been raised about what progress has been made on the site.

At this week’s West Local Area Committee meeting, Cllr Níall McNeilis asked officials for an update on the future of the property and what developments had taken place since he first raised the issue three years ago.

Chairing the meeting, Cllr Donal Lyons (Ind) said the council had employed a property agent to examine the site and that the Chief Executive would return with a report once this was completed.

Cllr McNeilis said he would prefer an update from council directors and raised concerns that little appeared to have changed.

“There are derelict site notices across the city,” he said.

“This is a big derelict site and we have been told it will cost in excess of €20 million to look at it.”

He asked whether the Chief Executive of Galway City Council had considered selling Lenaboy Castle or whether the property could be used for another purpose, and queried what constraints exist on the lease.

Correspondence between Cllr McNelis and council officials in 2023 shows that the building and roof are secure, while considerable interior work was needed.

Officials confirmed that monies received from the Sisters of Mercy at the time of the handover in line with the Department of Education Redress Scheme would be “used towards the building’s future development.”

In 2023, the contract for security on the building was over €8,000 per annum and it was mooted to become a creative hub for children.

Estimates prepared as part of the Culture Connects Shared Island Project at the time suggested that bringing the building into use as a cultural facility could cost in the region of €22 million.

This includes refurbishment costs estimated between €8 and €10 million and a further €10-€12 million for fit-out works, along with professional fees and contingency costs.

However, historian Catherine Corless and former residents of the Lenaboy Castle orphanage, known as St Anne’s, have previously called for an investigation of the site before any redevelopment.

Cllr McNeilis said he is seeking a clear update from the council on what plans now exist for the future of the castle.

Officials did not have a response available and the item will be kept on the agenda.

Dating back to 1859, Lenaboy Castle is a Gothic-Revival style house built by Captain James O’Hara at a cost of £3,500.

David Godfrey Syme, manager of the Guinness operation in Galway, leased the castle from Colonel James ‘Jim’ O’Hara, who was overseas, from the summer of 1913 until it was commandeered by the Auxiliaries in October 1920.

According to historian Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc, D Company were responsible for half the number of Irish ‘disappeared’ by British Crown forces during the War of Independence, including Fr Michael Griffin. It is widely believed that the city-based priest was taken here and shot dead on the night of November 14-15, 1920.

It was later taken over by Sisters of Mercy and run as an orphanage for girls, St Anne’s.

Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.