A local preservation group want to preserve Frescati House in Blackrock which is due to be demolished.
Frescati House in Blackrock, County Dublin was home to Lord Edward FitzGerald at the time of the 1798 Rebellion.
The house and grounds were bought by Frescati Estate, a company owned by the owners of Roches Stores department store, in 1970 but is now in a state of disrepair and in need of restoration. The Frescati and Blackrock Preservation Society believe that the building would make an ideal theatre and arts centre.
There are six and a half acres of once beautiful lands around the house.
Owners have sought permission to demolish the building and have been granted permission to build an office block on the site. However, the Frescati and Blackrock Preservation Society believe there is room for both an office block and an arts centre on the site.
Marie Walker of the Frescati and Blackrock Preservation Society has been leading the fight to save the house for the past six years. She outlines plans to restore the house and convert it into an arts centre should the Preservation Society be granted ownership. She explains the historical significance of the house going back to Lord Edward Fitzgerald and the 1798 rebellion.
Plans for the 1798 rebellion were made here.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 4 August 1976.
The battle to save Frescati House ended in 1983 when it was raised to the ground.
