Former Ballyduff Garda Station sold

Ballyduff’s former Garda station has sold at auction at a price of €253,000.

Bidding on the property opened at €180,000 and climbed in increments of €5,000 until it hit the €250,000, from which point it climbed to €253,000 in increments of €1,000.

It is understood that the property was sold to a man in attendance at the auction, which was held both online and in person at the Park Hotel in Dungarvan.

Situated on an elevated site of circa 0.5 hectares near the Blackwater River, the three-storey period property was advertised by Gleeson Property.

Between 2012 and 2013, An Garda Siochána announced the closure of 139 Garda stations, including those located in Ballyduff Upper in County Waterford, along with Galbally and Kilfinane in County Limerick. At the time it was noted that a planned programme was in place for the disposal of the three former Garda stations, as an OPW spokesperson claimed the programme has been delayed on a number of occasions during 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19.

As a matter of policy, the spokesperson added that no former Garda station property is disposed of until there is ‘absolute certainty’ that there is no alternative state use for the property.

Built in 1869 and designed by the Jacobs brothers, this Scottish Baronial-style building first served as the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks. The building was vacated in 1921 and was reduced to a burnt-out shell during ‘The Troubles’. It was rebuilt in 1926 for use as a station for An Garda Siochana until 2013. It represents the ‘earliest surviving civic building in the locality of Ballyduff’.