Three Irish projects win Council of Europe Architectural Heritage Year awards.
Three projects submitted by Ireland for the European Architectural Heritage Year sponsored by the Council of Europe have won awards. The winning Irish projects are the restoration of Kildare Market House; the restoration of the Grand Canal Hotel in Robertstown, County Kildare, and the village improvement scheme at Tyrellspass in County Westmeath.
Kildare County Council restored Kildare Market House and Square at a cost of over £10,000.
Today, it is once again the focal point of the Market Square.
Robertstown got its award for the restoration of the Grand Canal Hotel built in 1801. Now, the hotel houses several museums, including a liquor museum. The long-term plan is to reopen it as a hotel. The local branch of the voluntary organisation Muintir na Tíre restored the Grand Canal Hotel in Robertstown as part of an overall plan to develop the waterway.
The population of Tyrellspass, County Westmeath, is 350. They earned their architectural award for a major village improvement scheme at Tyrellspass, which, among other things, cleared the village green of overhead wiring.
The project aims at getting people interested in their own architecture and to show how voluntary groups can cooperate with state and local government organisations.
For this project, the co-operation was between Westmeath County Council, Bord Fáilte, the local Tidy Towns Committee, the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) and the Department of Posts and Telegraphs.
The other towns awarded included 11 in Britain, 12 in Switzerland, seven in France, four in Belgium and three in the Netherlands.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 21 November 1975. The reporter is Michael Walsh.
