Ancient Irish castle puts brakes on motorway plan

An ancient Irish castle in one of the country’s most visited tourist areas has halted in its tracks plans by a motorway service company to extend its national network.

Dromoland Castle in Ireland. Image by deek ay / CC BY 2.0

The famed five-star Dromoland Castle Hotel  has put the brakes on plans by motorway service provider Applegreen to open up one of its services in Clare after the local county council refused planning permission to construct such a service.

The castle had put forward strident objections to the development and both the Ennis Chamber of Commerce and the National Roads Authority also said they had concerns over the proposal.

The Irish Examiner reported that Dromoland claimed such a development would be between 200-600m from its own main entrance and would be contrary to proper planning for the historic area.

It added that such a development was likely to lead to a proliferation of such facilities. These would be totally inconsistent with the plan-led approach in the area.