Historians fight to save site owned by Jim Larkin
HISTORIANS are seeking to block the development of a property once owned by James Larkin and central to the 1916 Easter Rising.
Numbers 122 and 122A Emmet Road, in Inchicore, Dublin, built in 1909, had been a property formerly owned by James Larkin in 1913.
Named Emmet Hall, the building became a training area for the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Citizen Army, from 1915 to 1916, according to historians. The property was also once home to Easter Rising leader Michael Mallin, who was executed at Kilmainham Jail in May 1916.
But planning permission has now been granted for an archway within the body of the structure, to allow vehicles access to the back area of the property, where two three-storey houses will be built.
The Kilmainham and Inchicore Heritage group is “gravely concerned” the development will “undermine the value of this
historic property, as an “important tourist and heritage amenity”.
The group is set to appeal to An Bord Pleanála in a bid to stop the development. The group believes the property is “one of the most significant historical buildings in the nation” and the “semi-demolition” of the ground floor will “damage ... this historic property”.
The group is holding a public meeting in the De Mazenod Centre, 52A Bulfin Road, Inchicore, tomorrow at 7.30pm.
Group secretary Michael O’Flanagan labelled the plans “shocking.” “I held historic exhibitions in that house in cooperation with the family, who know the historic significance of the building. The former owner showed me the deeds with James Larkin’s name on them from 1913.”
Clinton McDonald, who is leading the new project, said the building had been in his family’s ownership for 60 years. He said residents couldn’t go on “living in a museum”.
Mr McDonald has been granted planning permission to remove a former shop area on the ground floor, to create an archway for vehicles to enter into the back of the property, where two threestorey houses will be built.
Mr McDonald said: “We understand the historical significance of the building but it’s not listed. We’re attempting to bring it back to its former glory ...
“The building has been vacant since 1984 and the whole neighbourhood is in a state of dereliction.”