Council slammed over failure to buy Brosnan’s Irish home
Cllr says property should have been turned into musuem for actors from Royal County
I’d go as far to say that it is a national disgrace
CLLR TOMMY REILLY YESTERDAY
MEATH County Council has been criticised for failing to purchase the childhood home of Pierce Brosnan, which was demolished last week.
The Hollywood star often mentions the ‘Boyne Crest’ house on the banks of the Boyne in Navan, where he was brought up by his grandparents.
In an interview in 2022 with fellow Navan man and FM104 presenter Thomas Crosse, he said: “Navan is deep in my heart on the banks of the Boyne.
“Across from the town my grandfather, God rest him, built a little bungalow that was my home.
“I don’t know if it is still there?” and Crosse said it was .
However, the derelict house on privately owned land on Convent Road, Athlumney was razed last week to make way for a new two-story dwelling which was granted planning permission by Meath Co Council in August 2022.
The demolition of the house has caused anger and frustration among locals and the cathaoirleach of the council, Cllr Tommy Reilly.
“I can’t believe this. I’m bitterly disappointed. I’d actually go as far to say that it is a national disgrace,” he said.
“Meath County Council are going around buying up properties left, right and centre which are of no significance and here they let this property go, which is of huge significance to the town, being the childhood home of one of its most famous sons. I will be raising the matter with the council but it’s a bit late now. That property should have been bought and turned into a museum for all Meath’s noted actors. It was only last week that Meath Co. Council passed a motion for a walk of fame in the county to celebrate our actors because five out of the 13 Irish stars along the Hollywood Walk Of Fame all hailed from the Royal county.
“And to get this news that Pierce’s house has been knocked, just as we celebrate the first Irish man Cillian Murphy to get an Oscar, is so gut wrenching.”
The 007 actor visited the town in recent years on separate occasions with his mother May Carmichael (nee Smith) and his wife Keely Shaye Smith.
On his Instagram page in 2018, he shared a picture of his wife outside Athlumney Castle, which is beside his old home and wrote: “On summers evenings, he [grandad] and I would walk up the lane hand in hand as the last slow rays of sunshine fell through the canopy of trees. This road that Keely and I stand on is part of my five-year-old memory.”
The owners of the site, who had full planning permission to knock the derelict building said: “We just want to build our home, get rid of the anti-social behaviour and live in our new family house for the rest of our lives.”