Clara GAA granted permission to redevelop St Brigid's Convent

Clara GAA has recently been granted permission to refurbish St Brigid's Convent into a community resource and focal point within the town.

The club applied on April 22 to the Offaly County Council for planning permission for the refurbishment of the existing convent building on Kilbeggan Road, Clara, which would involve the construction of a two-storey extension to the rear of the existing building on a phased basis.

The proposals were for dressing rooms and associated facilities, toilets, storage, plant room, gym, and the erection of a spectator stand, ball wall and all-weather training area. It will also provide a lift to the second-floor, making it accessible to all.

The development will also incorporate carparking, paths, paving, walking track lighting, floodlighting, alterations to pitches, ball stops, dug-outs, landscaping, fencing and railings, foul sewer drainage, surface water drainage to a soakaway on site, and all associated site development works.

It will also include the demolition of the existing ball wall and rear extensions.

Prior to reaching a decision on the application, Offaly County Council requested further information on 13 points, including on lighting and car parking plans, as well as how the disused Clara-Banagher railway, which intersects the site, would be integrated.

Furthermore, as St Brigid's Convent, which was built in 1862, is a protected listed structure, the council requested additional information on how existing rooms in the building would be altered, and how the proposed infill of the inner courtyard would impact on the light and drainage of inner walls, windows and rooms.

The council also requested Clara GAA to use a green flat roof for their proposed gym, and to include 20 swift nest bricks and caller (lure) system to provide nesting opportunities for common swifts in the west or north-facing walls of the proposed rear extension for dressing rooms.

Offaly County Council received the requested information on September 12, and granted permission for the refurbishment of the convent on October 8, with 16 conditions attached.

These conditions include a stipulation that the refurbishment be carried out within ten years.

Clara GAA is also requested to provide plans before refurbishment starts outlining indicating a “five metre buffer for future development of an Amenity Route linking the disused railway line on both the eastern and western boundaries of the site”. In addition, any existing hedgerows or trees should be retained, and any new boundary hedgerows should consist of native shrubs with interspersed deciduous trees.

Within the building, the development should retain the “maximum amount of surviving historic fabric in situ, including structural elements, plasterwork and joinery,” with any items removed for repair catalogued for future reinstatement.

The public roads around the site should not be adversely affected by construction traffic during the refurbishment, with loading or unloading permitted outside the site.

Clara GAA currently uses a small building in the south-east corner of the site as dressing rooms, but according to planning documents, this facility is sub-standard in terms of size and isn't positioned in a location close to the pitches.

The original application for the development of the premises stated that the refurbished building will be able to cater for a wide variety of groups including the local fire brigade, Clara Ladies club, Clara Athletics club, Clara Christmas lights, local Weight Watchers, Clara Musical Society, and a number of other community groups.