This coming weekend, from Friday, September 27 to Sunday, September 29 will witness the county’s second Architecture Kerry event.
Architecture Kerry, the brainchild of Victoria McCarthy, Architectural Conservation Officer, Kerry County Council, is a weekend celebration of the built environment in Kerry.
The event, which is part of the Creative Ireland Kerry Programme, aims to highlight the wide diversity of the architectural landscape in Kerry.
Free Countywide Tours
This year’s programme includes free tours of Kerry Lighthouses, architect designed new homes and passive houses, historic buildings, theatres, cutting-edge factory buildings, events in libraries, exhibitions et cetera. Many of these architectural gems are not normally open to the public.
Therefore, for anyone with an interest/passion in Kerry’s architecture, this is the weekend to get out and about and avail of these free events. Full details from the links below.
All Municipal Districts
Architecture Kerry 2019, takes place across all of Kerry’s municipal districts. In the Castleisland area, Marie O’Sullivan of Herlihy’s, Half Way House, Farranfore is opening her doors to the public on Sunday, September 29, at 3pm.
Herlihy’s Bar, a landmark building in the village, ceased trading as a licensed premises in 2017.
Being only too well aware of the number of closed and derelict public houses throughout the country.
Herlihy’s History and Culture
Marie did not want the same fate befall Herlihy’s. Bearing in mind the history and culture of the premises and her own professional background in the world of archaeology, Marie hit upon a novel way to perpetuate the tradition 21st century style. In a project which took just over 18 months to complete, Marie transformed the bar and ancillary areas into guest accommodation.
Where Quirky Meets Traditional
The traditional frontage remains in situ, therefore the street-scape is unaffected by the development. The bar area, is now kitchen/dining/living area, with a difference.
The bar counter, into which a bespoke kitchen has been built, remains in situ!
During the transformation, Marie was careful, to retain, every ‘last scrap’ of material, which was up-cycled.
Collectibles of Generations
The entire ‘Pub’ is decorated with bar memorabilia collected by Marie, her mother and grandmother. The cold room, bottle store and toilets were transformed into a new entrance hallway, bedroom, utility and bathroom. Thus, today the space provides an opportunity for those wishing to sample ‘Irish pub life’ to quite literally live in a traditional village pub.
This is a perfect example of what can be done to an old building, with just a little bit of imagination, proving that there is life after death for most structures!
The History of Farranfore
As well as being an ideal opportunity to view the transformation, this event will be of interest to anyone, curious about the history of Farranfore village, as Marie proposes to discuss the evolution of the building, in the context of the history of the village.
Pre-booking of Herlihy’s Half Way House Tour is essential and you can do so by calling: 087 770 8954
Details available at www.kerrycoco.ie on Kerry County Council’s social media channels or directly from Victoria on 066 71 8 3793.
