A Future for Irish Historic Houses - Irish Heritage Trust

- On the bedroom floor, a number of rooms were knocked into one in order
to make a dormitory.
- The stables in the yard have also been converted for school purposes.
The new owners, who are planning to carry out extensive restoration work over the
next five years, are confident that most of the alterations carried out since the 1920s
are reversible. All capital outlay is to be provided by the Ballyfin Demesne Company.
At this stage:
- Application has been made for planning permission to carry out repairs to
the roof, gutters and parapets.
- The serious problem of decaying stonework, particularly around the
cornices, is being tackled.
- The windows are being repaired and the PVC windows are to be replaced
with the originals, which fortunately have been stored in the house since
they were removed.
- The school buildings constructed in the 1960s and 1970s are to be
dismantled.
The house is to be opened to paying guests. The new owners’ intention is that the
ground floor rooms will once again function as reception rooms as they did in the
nineteenth century. The owners state that the landscape will not be compromised by
the construction of a golf course or the sale of sites for development purposes.
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