Planning permission is being sought to convert an historic house and estate in Donegal Town for tourism use.
Magherabeg House, which sits on 28 acres on the shores of Donegal Bay at Lurganboy, was sold last year for just over €1 million.
This week the new owners, Enda Healy and Dearbhail Mulhern, submitted ambitious plans for the property which lies close to the town centre.
Built around 1870, the late Victorian house has a number of outhouses, stables and a tennis court.
Magherabeg House and estate (encircled in red), overlooking Donegal Bay. Pic: Anderson Auctioneers/Sherry Fitzgerald Country Homes.
The proposed development, submitted this week to Donegal County Council, includes a change of use from an existing private dwelling to short-term guest accommodation.
There are also plans for the construction of new self-contained residential accommodation within an existing detached outbuilding, as well as interior alterations and refurbishment works to Magherabeg House.
According to McCabe Architects, the proposed development also includes a series of associated improvement and enhancement works aimed at facilitating a high-quality visitor accommodation experience, “while carefully preserving and respecting the architectural character of the existing building and the natural setting of the site.”
The proposed short-term guest accommodation is intended to operate on a small-scale, managed basis, offering flexible stays such as weekly or short stays rather than high-turnover or intensive use.
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“It is also the long-term intention of the homeowners that Magherabeg House will return to use as a family home in the future,” they added.
“The proposed use therefore represents an interim and reversible form of development that will allow the property to remain occupied, maintained, and actively cared for in the meantime.”
Council planners are due to make a decision on the application by the first week of July.
According to the Buildings of Ireland website, the remains of the Franciscan friary to the north of the site, which was originally founded in the fifteenth century for the Franciscan Third Order Regular by the O’Donnell clan, adds substantially to the setting and historical interest. The main dwelling, it added, was probably the residence of Frederick George Gahen (1821/2 – 1904) in 1881 and 1894. Mr Gahen was an engineer who served as the county surveyor for Donegal between 1864 and 1891.