In Clonsilla, residents petition a developer to save the chimney stack of an old lodge

At the end of Clonsilla Road, one door down from St Mary’s Church and behind wooden gates, is the old Clonsilla Lodge.

On Monday evening, there were two holes in the roof of the two-storey mock-Tudor house. Rubble covered the driveway.

On the side of a chimney stack was a wall plate, with 1897, a horse insignia, and the initials WEHS – William Edward Hollwey Steeds.

The lodge had been built for a Captain Steeds, born in 1849, who lived nearby in Clonsilla House. Clonsilla House is already gone, demolished in 1980 to make way for the Portersgate housing estates, according to the National Built Heritage Service.

The old lodge is now likely to go the same way. Developer Deanbay Limited has permission to knock it and build 57 apartments on the site.

Locals have launched a petition asking that, if the lodge must be felled, then could the new complex keep the distinctive chimney stack and wall plate to recognise this piece of Clonsilla’s heritage.

Steeds bred and trained horses, 38 of which were poisoned in 1887, says Stephen Gray, a local involved in a heritage group in the area.

“Half a score” of horses died, said a contemporary Irish Times account of what became known as the Clonsilla Poisoning.

This lodge and one house, just across the road, which has a similar wall plate on its own chimney, are all that is left of Steeds’ legacy, Gray says. “It would be nice to reflect on that and celebrate this.”

Deanbay Limited did not respond to a query asking if they would take the request on board when they develop the site.

Planners at An Bord Pleanála, which granted permission for the development in December, said they did not view the building as historically significant, as it is neither listed as a protected structure, nor within an architectural conservation area.

A spokesperson for Fingal County Council, when asked whether it was engaging with the developer to preserve the chimney stacks and wall plate, referred back to An Bord Pleanála’s opinion.

Not Listed

Clonsilla Lodge had been owned by a local, Tony Bourke, says Clonsilla resident and Bourke’s niece, Sophy Murray. “Tony moved there with his mum and two brothers in the late 60s, or early 70s.”

Bourke was a lifelong resident. He and his wife, Mary lived there from the early 90s onward, she says.

But she passed away in April 2019. He died twelve months later, she says, and it was sold the following year.

Since 2021, it has been blocked off by wooden gates.

In that time, it has been damaged by vandalism and arson, says Gray. “It is in a really sorry state.”

When Fingal County Council’s planning department carried out a review of proposed additions to its record of protected structures in November 2022, it decided against adding the lodge to the list.

Despite its name, it was not a historic gate lodge to Clonsilla House and was not of sufficient special interest, said the planning department report.

In December 2021, Deanbay Limited applied to the council for permission to demolish the house and build a block with 59 flats, car and bike parking, and open space.

Helena Bergin, the council’s senior executive architectural conservation officer, in a report on 26 January 2022, said the development would visually impact on St Mary’s Church nearby, and did not consider the proposal acceptable on a sensitive site.

It pointed to a council strategy and the development plan, which had an objective to “protect the historic character of Clonsilla Village by conserving old houses and cottages and only permitting sensitive development”.

Still, Fingal County Council planners granted permission to Deanbay Limited on 26 May. An appeal against the decision was lodged on 10 June 2022 by Tony Nolan, a Clonsilla resident and independent councillor Tania Doyle.

Deanbay Limited proposed reducing the number of flats to 57, according to an An Bord Pleanála inspector’s report.

An Bord Pleanála granted Deanbay Limited permission to build the 57 flats, on 15 December 2023.

Asking for some recognition

At the council’s local area committee meeting on 2 May, local independent councillor Tania Doyle asked if the council could engage with Deanbay Limited to secure the chimney structure for preservation and incorporation into the development.

Colm McCoy, a council senior planner, said in a response that An Bord Pleanála’s inspector had said they were satisfied that removing the property is acceptable as the lodge is not a protected structure.

The council can’t change that permission, McCoy wrote.

Gray, on behalf of the Clonsilla and Porterstown Heritage Society, drew up a petition on 5 June, asking Deanbay Limited to preserve at least a modicum of the lodge’s historic features.

The petition, which as of 11 June, has collected 352 signatures, asks the developer to retain the chimney stack and wall plate, bearing the date of construction and Steed’s initials.

Gray and locals understand and see the value in what Deanbay are doing, he says. “We approached them and said it’s a great thing. But we would just love to have this chimney stack be incorporated in.”

There is little point in dwelling on why it was rejected as a protected structure, he says. “I don’t think it’s going to change now. So for us, the conversation is protecting a little of what is there for future generations.”

Having a small piece of the old lodge live on as the new building goes up would be a good way to remember the place, says Murray. “It’d be a nice link to the history of the house.”