Historic building will have the lights turned on after 30 years

Plans to see the former Barrack House in Kilmainhamwood brought back into use after 30 years have been given a major boost with €250,000 announced last week under the Town and Village Renewal Scheme to convert the building into a community centre.

An earlier allocation saw the area around the building cleaned up and a car park was put in but this latest tranche of funding will allow work progress on refurbishing the derelict building into a community centre with offices upstairs which may provide the option of providing remote working facilities.

John Keogan from Kilmainhamwood Area Development Association said: "This is fantastic news for our village. We are looking forward to seeing this historic building have the lights turned on again after 30 years. I wish to thank Cllr Eugene Cassidy who has worked tirelessly on our behalf for the last 10 years on this project and without him none of the above would have been achieved."

John outlined the rich history associated with the building, which was built as part of a plan by the British government to provide accommodation for cavalry horses with grants provided to farmers to provide such accommodation. The Kellett family received a grant and built McMahon’s building.

In early 1798, Orange Lodge No. 577 used the building as its headquarters. Lieut. William Smith married into the Kellett family and subsequently public hangings were conducted on the fair green. The Smith family occupied the house for about eighty years before it was bought by Michael McMahon. It traded as a shop and public house and was occupied by McMahon’s until 1995.

In 2013, KADA took a 100 year lease on the building with a view to save it from it from complete dereliction as a section of the roof had collapsed. In 2014, KADA received funding from Meath Leader to save the roof and restore the site to a Village green area.

In 2017 funding was received from Town and Village scheme to restore the perimeter walls and provide a footpath around the site. In 2020 additional funding was provided from the Town and Village scheme to provide a new car park on the site. Now this funding will bring the building back to life for the benefit of the community.

Cllr Cassidy welcomed the confirmation of the funding. He said: "It was an eyesore for years in Kilmainhamwood, now we are going to have a community centre that will be available for all from young to old to be used for whatever is needed. For years it as an eyesore, now it will transform the village."

He added that they are looking at the possibility of having a digital hub for remote working as part of the plans and said there would be a meeting room, so any local groups will have somewhere to meet.