Local experts believe Nenagh structure would be ‘perfect option’ for a museum
The Government and Tipperary County Council have been urged to save a historical military barracks so it can be transformed into a heritage facility.
Nenagh Barracks has been a ruin for decades, despite ranking as one of the most notable structures in the north Tipperary town.
Discussions about transferring part of the site to a local secondary school are being held, and fears are growing that unless urgent action is taken to preserve the structure, it will ultimately face demolition.
Historians have campaigned to save the barracks and repurpose it as a dedicated heritage facility and museum.
A petition calling for urgent remedial action to be taken on the structure has attracted nearly 2,000 signatures.
However, other people have proposed demolishing it for safety reasons.
Local historian John Flannery said that while the site is owned by the Department of Defence, Tipperary County Council has the power to require that remediation works be carried out.
Mr Flannery was key to founding the Nenagh Military Barracks Preservation Group in 2021, and is also a member of the Tipperary in the Decade of Revolution group. He said he was advised that it was possible to stabilise the walls of the structure.
He argued that the Summerhill building was “the perfect option” for a museum. It would boost the local heritage sector and attract tourists to the town.
Nenagh Barracks was opened in 1832, and local historians have campaigned for its future to be secured before its 200th anniversary.
It was initially home to British army regiments before becoming a base for the IRA, the National Army, the Defence Forces and the FCA, and latterly a Department of Defence storage facility.
Nenagh Barracks was central to the so-called Battle of the Breeches, a mutiny by the North Tipperary Militia in 1856 after the home-guard force, founded during the Crimean War, objected to surrendering their uniforms and having to wear the shabby clothing they handed over when they enlisted.
Mr Flannery said a Nenagh military museum could showcase the area’s history.
“I always live in hope,” he said. “I will fight to the end for this because I believe it is a very important part of our heritage.”
Another local historian, Michael Reynolds, who founded the Nenagh Military History Group, has also campaigned to highlight the deteriorating condition of the barracks and get it redeveloped as a museum.