Tipperary gaol project moves step closer after €500,000 funding officially received
Funding which will enable a former Tipperary gaol to open to the public for the first time in more than 100 years has officially been received by the county council, paving the way for works to start.
Before Christmas, €500,000 was allocated to Tipperary under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme for the former gaol building in Nenagh, enabling the building to be transformed into a tourist attraction.
At the February meeting of the Nenagh Municipal District, district administrator Rosemary Joyce said that the funding allocation had officially been given to Tipperary County Council, meaning that the project can go to tender for a contractor to carry out the works.
"We’ve received the funding agreement associated with the Town and Village Renewal for the Gaol block, so we’ll be moving ahead with that,” she said.
"We do have planning in place for it so we’ll be going to tender on it,” Ms Joyce said.
At a previous meeting, the district administrator said that the allocation for Nenagh was the single biggest allocation for all of Tipperary, which will allow the 100-year-old building to be opened to the public as a tourist attraction.
"We got the maximum grant possible, which was €500,000, and with match funding from the council, [the total investment is] €555,555,” she said.
"We had to get through Tipperary first of all with that application, because only one application under that category could be put in. The gaol block hasn’t been open to the public since 1887.
"We already have Part 8 planning in place which was done as part of the Historical and Cultural Quarter, so we’ll be doing the prioritised conservation works that will allow it to be open to the public.
"We’ll be then looking at how this can be managed in conjunction with the heritage centre so that there can be guided tours there. We will have to control access and there’ll be restrictions on numbers because it’s a building with steep staircases and tiny cells, but it’s fantastic that we have the opportunity of bringing it back into public use,” she explained.
Under plans approved by councillors for the Historical and Cultural Quarter in Nenagh are the development of a tourist attraction at the former gaol, as well as public realm improvements to Banba Square, O’Rahilly Street, and the areas around the Courthouse, the Castle and the Castle Field.
The former Rialto Cinema in the area will also be repurposed into an office, meeting and collaborative working space under the plans for the historical area.