This article is from page 15 of the 2012-01-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 15 JPG
THERE have been calls to convert Ennis’ oldest inhabited house into a museum.
Archaeologists believe that the McParland’s building on Parnell Street is one of Ireland’s earliest surviving examples of a timber-framed house.
A local councillor believes that there is potential to develop the site as a major tourist attraction.
Councillor Paul O’Shea (Lab) is calling on Ennis Town Council to seek funding to open a medieval museum at McParland’s and to offer a County Clare passport to every visitor to the town.
According to Cllr O’Shea, the initiative would “entitle the passport holder to discounts at other major touristic attractions, in addition to shops and restaurants throughout Ennis and the county.”
The matter is due to be discussed at today’s meeting of Ennis Town Council.
Ms Irene Clune’s house, known as McParland’s, is long understood to have been the oldest inhabited house in the Clare County capital. The building’s triple diamond stone Jacobean chimney has been an icon of medieval Ennis for centuries.
The house was first inspected in 2008 by Clare County Council’s conservation officer, who recommended that the property undergo structural repair work. Following detailed technical analyses by the National Monuments Service, officials from Ennis Town Council and consulting conservation engineers, it was concluded that the structure was unstable and represented a danger to the general public.
Ennis Town Council, using its statutory powers to deal with dangerous buildings, commenced a € 170,000 project to make the building safe and to protect and restore the historic fabric of the structure. A grant of € 85,000 was procured under the Structures at Risk Scheme from the Department of the Environment towards the restoration project.
During October 2011, the gable and chimney were carefully recorded, taken down and stored. At present the historic gable is being re-built using the original stones bedded in an authentic hydraulic-lime mortar, the floor of the house having been archaeologically excavated prior to this.
Last November, archaeologists discovered an oak frame structure, which they described as “potentially one of the most exciting urban archaeological discoveries in Ireland in recent years”.