Protected house a monument to horrific crime
TWO weathered and rainsodden teddy bears wedged into the rusting railings, and the taped cellophane wrapper from a long-ago placed bouquet of flowers, are the remaining clues that something terrible happened to an innocent girl at the derelict farmhouse at the top of the long driveway in the fields outside Lucan.
The period house looks different now. Still derelict and abandoned, it is the place where 14-year-old Ana Kriegel was lured to and murdered by two of her peers who would later only be identified as Boy A and Boy B.
It is here she was found, three days after being reported missing by her family on May 14, 2018.
Images of the crumbling house appeared in every news report about the awful crime that shocked the country, but back then it was more open and accessible to the teens of surrounding estates. The roof had caved in on one side after fires were lit inside, and bottles, cans and rubbish littered its decaying rooms.
Now impenetrable, with a steel door, bricked-up windows, and a new corrugated roof, it is still a monument to murder.
Glenwood House had stood for generations as a fine property with walled gardens surrounded by farmland.
It was thought to have been designed by famous architect James Gandon, but now it is known only for one awful event that can never be blotted from its history.
After Boy A and Boy B were sentenced last November, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he would like to see the house torn down, razed from the landscape, and removed as a reminder of darkness and death. But the house remains a protected structure on the lists in the files of the Heritage Council. On its pages it is recorded as a place of architectural significance.
Built at the beginning of the 1800s, it was originally a private house. It was made a protected structure in 2005.
The owners of the house, Sherborough Properties, have submitted different planning applications to Fingal County Council with a view to turning Glenwood House into a nursing home.
The O’Callaghan hotelier family are the owners of development company Sherborough Properties.
The first application to demolish three agricultural storage sheds and later extensions and additions to the house, and the construction of a two-storey extension to accommodate 92 bedrooms, failed when it was applied for in 2015.
A further application in 2016 which reduced the number of bedrooms to 62 was granted by the council. This plan included parking space for 20 cars and 20 bikes.
But then in September 2017 a further planning application was made by Sherborough Properties which reduced the number of bedrooms to 32, and increased car parking to 27 spaces. The application was refused.
Currently it is not known what will become of Glenwood House.
Paul O’Callaghan, a director of Sherborough Properties, was unavailable for comment but has previously said the development of the site would be guided by what could be agreed with the council.