Mayo developer Joe McNamara has been jailed for four days by the High Court for breaching a court order directing him to stop building a development on Achill Island.
Mr McNamara began building the structure, which locals have called "Achill-henge", on Friday of last week.
His solicitor told the High Court it was a "place of reflection".
Mr McNamara was jailed for continuing to build the structure on Sunday despite being served with a High Court injunction on Sunday morning.
Mayo County Council got an injunction from the High Court on Saturday to stop the development.
A letter was delivered to the Achill Head Hotel, owned by Mr McNamara on Saturday.
On Sunday morning, a Mayo County Council official served the court order on Mr McNamara at the site.
However, Mr McNamara's solicitor said that he had not opened the envelope until Sunday evening and was not aware of the order until then.
He came to the High Court on Monday and gave an undertaking that he would stop work at the site. The court heard he has abided by that undertaking.
Mr McNamara's lawyers said the structure was a place of reflection and is an "exempted development".
They asked for an adjournment to allow him to make an application to the county council to clarify whether or not it is an "exempted development".
But Mr Justice Roderick Murphy said he was satisfied Mr McNamara was properly served with the order and that work had continued on Sunday after he had received the order. He said this was a serious matter.
Questions of planning were not there to thwart people, he said. They were a necessary part of the democratic process relating to the use of land.
Mayo County Council was entitled to take action to ensure adherence to the planning laws of the country, the judge said.
Justice Murphy jailed Mr McNamara for four days and ordered he come back before him next Wednesday morning.
Mayo County Council said it would be satisfied if Mr McNamara would accept the structure was an unauthorised development and would undertake to submit a scheme to take it down.
However, Mr McNamara's lawyer said he could not do that. Mr McNamara was then escorted by a garda across the road to the Bridewell Garda Station.
