Expansion plans at Adare Manor and Golf Resort, owned by businessman JP McManus, have fallen foul of Government heritage experts over an unconfirmed medieval town wall.
Last month, Limerick County Council gave the green light to the resort, slated to host the 2026 Ryder Cup, to construct a new 40 space car park.
However, the Dept of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has put the plan on hold after appealing that decision to An Bord Pleanala.
The Department said the plan should be refused due to concerns the proposed development may have on the historic town defences of Adare.
"The town wall may cross through the proposed development site and may be directed impacted by the proposed development."
The Dept said that the Council planning decision cannot be considered sustainable unless it can be demonstrated that the archaeological heritage will not be adversely impacted and in particular until the location of the town wall has been confirmed through archaeological investigations.
In lodging the appeal, the Department has used rarely used powers after pointing out that it did not receive notification of the plans and did not have an opportunity to make a submission.
The Adare hotel company, Tizzard Holdings lodged an archaeological assessment with the plans and it concluded that it is not considered likely that the proposed development will cause any direct or visual impact to any identified archaeological monuments.
It did state however that as the proposed development site is 15m from the town defence, it is considered that there is a possibility that previously undocumented subsurface archaeological features might exist within the boundary of the development.
As part of its permission, Limerick City and County Council attached a number of conditions aimed at protecting the archaeology at the site including one that if an archaeological survey finds artefacts prior to work starting an expert could halt the project pending a decision on how best to deal with the archaeology.
