Part of the old workhouse after a recent fire.

Care facility and museum plan for Birr workhouse

Rodney Farry

Birr workhouse is to be redeveloped into a state-of-the-art care facility for people with dementia, a museum and a cafe planned for the historic site.

Representatives from the firm behind the redevelopment project, investment firm Castle Rook Ltd attended a meeting in Birr on Wednesday of last week where they outlined plans to transform one of the town's most historic buildings into a care facility for 65 residents.
Castle Rook's plans also include the development of a museum and a cafe on the women's section of the workhouse, which has been warmly welcomed by the Birr Historical Society and the Birr 2020 group.
In a statement issued to the Offaly Independent, Castle Rook says that it hopes to have the sale of the building complete by the end of the April and that it will then make an immediate application to the council to commence emergency works to make the building safe and watertight – a portion of the building was extensively damaged in a fire last August.
While these works are underway, Castle Rook plans to apply for a change of use to the historic facility that originally opened in 1842.
The firms says that each resident of their proposed facility “will have a home to call their own including a cooking area, dining area, sleeping area, and couch, making the individual rooms spacious enough to host family and friends comfortably”.
“Residents will not be on a strict schedule, enjoying the freedom to spend their days anyway that suits them."
When the facility is operational Castle Rook says that it will have a staff care ratio of one support worker per every five residents and will provide “employment opportunities for the surrounding community.
“There will also be museum jobs, cafe jobs, and jobs maintain the building and grounds. Our team has an added aspiration to create many jobs for young people, especially summer jobs in the glasshouses.
"We hope this will be a great project for Birr, and we are enthusiastic about seeing the project through to realisation.”