Plans revealed for new backpackers hostel in the heart of Abbeyfeale

A NEW tourist hostel is being planned at the former Bank of Ireland building in the heart of Abbeyfeale.

Permission is being sought to change the use of the building from financial to residential on its first and second floors to use as a backpackers hostel.

The building operated as a branch of Bank of Ireland up until October 2021 when it closed down.

In the intervening period, Limerick City and County Council purchased the complex and used it to house international protection asylum seekers.

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However, the local authority is now seeking the green light to have the site used for a hostel.

It comes as a result of a feasibility study commissioned by Limerick City and County Council and carried out in consultation with both councillors and community groups in the town, close to Limerick’s border with Kerry.

The tourist hostel will feature sleeping accommodation, sanitary facilities, a self-catering kitchen, dining area, laundry , bin store and bike store, planning documents show.

It’s hoped the development will support Abbeyfeale’s role as a gateway to the Limerick Greenway and wider West Limerick and North Kerry region.

The unit at The Square in Abbeyfeale was purpose built in the early 1970s upon the opening of the bank.

It has two terraces at the rear, providing views of the River Feale.

On the first floor terrace, a new steel-framed canopy is proposed to provide a sheltered route between internal accommodation and an outdoor shower block.

The existing shopfront will, according to the plans, be replaced with a new aluminium framed frontage, and a new entrance door, on top of other upgrades.

Windows on the upper floors will be replaced with new aluminium units, with some openings subtly narrowed.

A heritage plaque, commemorating Abbeyfeale-born Richard J Hayes, a former director of the National Library of Ireland and curator of the Chester Beatty Library, will stay in place.

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While the site is owned by Limerick City and County Council, it is intended for the operation of the hostel to be carried out by a private organisation, which will be identified through an expression of interest process.

Since the site is owned by the local authority, it will be the role of councillors to decide whether planning permission is given.

Limerick is the only city in Ireland which does not have a youth hostel, a situation which has existed since 2003.