Heritage battle over prison site

Submitted by PaulM on Sunday, 17 April 2005 Page Views: 1013

A rare snail held up the Kildare bypass; a Viking settlement had a Waterford road rerouted. Now residents in north Co Dublin are counting on an ancient battle site to scupper plans to build a super-prison in their midst. A survey by a heritage association in Kilsallaghan, the townland earmarked for the new jail, has concluded the area has a “deep heritage” value and should be given conservation status.

“Kilsallaghan has ring forts, hill forts, souterrains, church sites, mottes, burial sites, battle sites, an execution site, industrial archeological sites and listed buildings,” it concludes.

Fingal county council will consider the findings at a meeting later this month. If it endorses them, the Department of Justice’s plans to open a state-of-the-art prison facility in the area could be frustrated.

Michael McDowell, the justice minister, dismissed the report as “guff” last week. He said plans for the prison would not be deflected by “people who produce notions of fairy ring forts in north Co Dublin”.

“I am not aware of the existence of ring forts, monastic remains or similar features on the land in question,” he said, pointing out that the area was surveyed before the land was purchased.

The Office of Public Works recently bought the 150-acre site for ?30m with a view to relocating Mountjoy prison and the Central Mental hospital to the outskirts of the capital. Local residents are strongly opposed to the move.

The heritage association points out that the study was under way before plans for the superprison were unveiled. “We have been working on this since 2002 and it contains professional and detailed evidence that suggests this area should be one of archeological conservation. The report is separate from the issue of the prison, but it has obvious implications for it,” said Richard Merne, a member of the association.

David O’Connor, director of planning in Fingal, said the report had been carried out by “serious people” and the council would study it closely.

The report claims there is evidence of prehistoric sites at Thornton dating from 3,000BC. In addition, it claims a castle at Kilsallaghan crossroads was the site of a major battle between parliamentary forces under the command of the Earl of Ormande and an army of Irish royalists during the Irish confederate war in 1641.

More than 600 submissions have been received by Fingal county council relating to its draft development plan. Of these, more than 400 are understood to be copies of the heritage association’s report signed by local residents.

“This report is just another reason to add to all the other ones which show this prison is being built in the wrong place,” said Theresa McDonnell of St Margaret’s Action Group.

The area in question is currently zoned for agricultural use and residents argue that the local infrastructure would be incapable of supporting the jail.

Jim O’Keefe, Fine Gael’s spokesman on justice, accused the minister of being flippant about the report’s findings.

“This site was bought with unseemly haste and the minister paid about eight times the market value for the land. These issues have arisen because they weren’t dealt with,” he said.

The Department of Justice does not have to apply for planning permission when building prisons and it is not clear if it would have to abide by a council heritage order. A department spokesman this weekend said the information was not to hand.

Mountjoy prison is to be closed when the new complex is completed in 2008.

McDowell ruled out meeting residents last week. He said legal action was being taken by one, with a view to preventing the building of the prison. “I will not have a meeting if its purpose is to dredge for information to sustain a legal action to frustrate the project,” he said.

A number of state projects have been held up in the past by heritage protesters. In Kildare, the government had to spend an additional ?5m when building the Kildare by-pass to protect a fen in Pollardstown as well as a rare species of snail. In Waterford, a viking site uncovered during road construction meant the government was forced to alter the road’s course.

Source: Sunday Times 17 April 2005

Contributor Bio for PaulM: Based in Macclesfield, contributing since 2002. Favourite site: Hordron Edge. Occupation: Something in waste and recycling.

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