{"id":584752,"date":"2026-08-06T07:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T07:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/584752\/"},"modified":"2026-08-06T07:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T07:32:10","slug":"the-musician-who-is-refusing-to-let-a-landmark-derelict-building-die-on-inis-meain-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/584752\/","title":{"rendered":"The musician who is refusing to let a landmark derelict building \u2018die\u2019 on Inis Me\u00e1in \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00d3stan Inis Me\u00e1in, a former hotel on the middle island of the three Aran Islands, has a ghostly character when visited today. <\/p>\n

Dust-covered bar stools, an abandoned tambourine and a visitors\u2019 book \u2013 with the signatures of tourists from across the globe \u2013 are among the items left behind: evidence of a once vibrant hub of hospitality, ceol agus caint<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now the derelict building is getting a new lease of life thanks to musician \u00dana N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in, who became the unlikely owner of the property after a public auction late last year.<\/p>\n

The award-winning harper, composer and singer was invited to visit the island in 2020 to work on a series of videos exploring the history of the Irish harp. She was only meant to stay for a week, but she is still living on Inis Me\u00e1in five years later.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went for the culture, the customs and the language, but I stayed for the people. They\u2019re resourceful and fascinating. I found a tribe,\u201d N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in says.<\/p>\n

Like most visitors to the island, she couldn\u2019t avoid seeing \u00d3stan Inis Me\u00e1in, which is located near the geographical centre of the island. It first opened as a 10-bedroom hotel in 1999 and was closed for a period before reopening in 2011. P\u00e1raic and Gobnait \u00d3 F\u00e1tharta then operated it under a three-year lease.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a wedding between a woman from the island and a man from Limerick, with a huge marquee and around 400 guests from all over the country and abroad. Those were three days that I barely slept,\u201d Gobnait says.<\/p>\n

The \u00d3 F\u00e1thartas fulfilled their lease term hoping to give something back to the island where they were born and raised. They hoped another operator would continue the business, but no one came forward. The building eventually closed, marking the beginning of a long period of abandonment.<\/p>\n

\"Óstan\u00d3stan Inis Me\u00e1in. Photograph: Ciar\u00e1n MacChoncarraige \"TheThe hotel’s bar. Photograph: Ciar\u00e1n MacChoncarraige <\/p>\n

\u201cMy only memory of that hotel is of it being closed \u2013 an eyesore, really. For older islanders, the memories are very different: visitors, activity, life,\u201d says P\u00e1draig \u00d3 Foghl\u00fa, development manager for the island\u2019s development company, who has lived on Inis Me\u00e1in for the past two years.<\/p>\n

A property developer might have broken the building into smaller apartments or housing units, but N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in had different ideas. She developed a business plan and, when the property came to auction, she placed the successful bid and became its owner in May 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI immediately thought: cultural centre. The heritage here is rich and alive, but it needs care. I remember standing there one night, before the building was even for sale, and thinking: even if I fail, I\u2019ll know I did the right thing by trying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Óstan\u00d3stan Inis Me\u00e1in. Photograph: \u00dana N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in \"Photograph:Photograph: Ciar\u00e1n MacChoncarraige <\/p>\n

The planned cultural centre will offer courses in Irish, music, traditional arts, heritage and island life. N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in hopes it will host island-led events, provide local employment and attract visitors who engage meaningfully with the community rather than passing through.<\/p>\n

The building, set on more than five acres, includes a large diningroom, bar, dance space and 10 bedrooms, all of which will be refurbished to accommodate participants in courses and residencies.<\/p>\n

N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in experienced the intensified accommodation crisis on Inis Me\u00e1in first-hand, moving seven times in 2\u00bd years to remain on the island.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile short-term rentals support tourism and bring economic benefits, second-home ownership is a different issue. On islands where housing is scarce, a home bought solely for holidays is one unavailable to permanent residents, making it harder for fragile communities to thrive now and survive in the future,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her plan has strong local backing. \u00d3 Foghl\u00fa says the island development company recently published a five-year development plan shaped through consultation with residents, and N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in\u2019s project is included within it. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce a project is included there, it becomes much easier to advocate for it nationally, particularly with bodies like F\u00e1ilte Ireland<\/a>,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Photograph:Photograph: Ciar\u00e1n MacChoncarraige \"Photograph:Photograph: Ciar\u00e1n MacChoncarraige <\/p>\n

A public competition is under way to find a name for the centre, which is scheduled to open in 2027.<\/p>\n

Asked where she sees herself five years from now, N\u00ed Fhlannag\u00e1in says her main goal is to stay sane. Beneath the joke, is a commitment to sustainability and cultural preservation.<\/p>\n

When she first came across the abandoned hotel, she says: \u201cI was struck immediately by what a tragic waste of resources that was. A building that\u2019s allowed to decay to the point of uselessness has already cost the earth so much.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t afford to let them die.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00d3stan Inis Me\u00e1in, a former hotel on the middle island of the three Aran Islands, has a ghostly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[93,15148,4500,61,60,34095],"class_list":["post-584752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-failte-ireland","tag-galway","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-irish-language"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}