THE BIG READ: Thriving Tullamore of June 2054 imagined in architect's diary entry

DIARY ENTRY 24 JUNE 2054

I sat out in Millennium Square in the sun this morning and had a coffee in one of its lively cafes.

The Square was full of friendly groups-retirees mainly- who had come into town on the free electric buses which connect Arden to Cloncollog and the Axis and Central Business Parks to meet their friends who, having exchanged their isolated houses out in the countryside for a spacious apartment in Distillery Yard or the Harbour, now enjoy the vivid social and cultural life of the centre. They are usually gone by lunchtime when the med and bio crowd start coming in.

I got a text from Sean who was visiting Tullamore with a group of his students. They are staying in the new hostel that used to be the Mercy Convent and making the obligatory architectural pilgrimage to the award winning Offaly History Cultural Centre in the Harbour designed by Henry J. Lyons. It was built with the money from the sale of its old Bury Quay site which is now earmarked for a ten storey hotel. Sean suggested I join them for lunch in one of the waterside restaurants in the Harbour.

Setting off along the leafy pedestrian walkway through the Bridge Centre car park, I walked up Meath Lane with its little book shops. The scaffolding is about to come down on the restored Charleville Estate office and, with the removal of the ugly 1960s shopfront, the underlying quality of the jewel in the crown of the town’s architectural heritage will at last be revealed. Its inauguration as the Offaly County Museum is scheduled for next month when the tape will be cut by the Chairperson of the recently reinstated and dynamic Tullamore Urban District Council.

I see that the road between High Street and the Tanyard still hasn’t got a name. Famous local personalities from the worlds of politics, sport, business, the theatre and religion have all been suggested but nobody could agree and so it is just known as ‘the New Road’ while the New Road appropriately reverted to its original title of Bachelors Walk.

O’Connor Square

The new road allowed the full pedestrianisation of O’Connor Square. Its eventual designation as an Architectural Conservation Area was achieved when the active Tullamore Civic Group was set up by local architects and environmentalists. Yet, the War Memorial still lacks its kerb and garish advertising signs pretending to be telephone boxes proliferate.

As I walked over the old bridge I spotted a kingfisher and an otter in the wooded river bank. The wonderful playground was full of parents who had just picked up their kids from the nearby crèches. Its little garden makes a perfect setting for the bronze statue of ‘The Turf Cutter’ donated by Bord Gan Móna in 2028.

Strolling down tree lined Church Street, I took a detour along the Matthew Kane Riverside Park and envied those who lived in the desirable terraces on the old Coen’s site. Because of its modern image, high quality employment, educational opportunities and good transport links, house prices in Tullamore have gone through the roof and supply can’t meet demand. What’s new?

The Harbour

I was delighted to see the number of visiting boats in the Harbour and the general air of activity and bustle. Judging by the line up of tourist buses, the Midlands Whiskey Experience is doing well. Anyone with an apartment and a balcony in the tower block looking down on the water is lucky.

Sean and his students were in the new gastropub which was packed with tourists. The redevelopment of the Harbour by the Land Development Agency has certainly set new standards for sustainability and quality public space. The young architects proudly showed me their sketches of the well designed social and affordable housing on the quayside.

Back to the Future

The town is busy these days.The children of the families who moved into the houses built in the 2030s on the Tanyard, and behind Cormac Street and the Courthouse are now teenagers and so there is a lively night time scene. Those sad empty upper floors which I remember so well are now desirable apartments. There is a lot more greenery and cycling is more popular than back in 2018 when only 3% of journeys were by bike.The huge outcry at the removal of on street parking back in the ‘30s has been forgotten. After a while it all settled down and over the years the safer environment attracted admirers and little by little it was extended.

The insights of outsiders and the visions of talented architects had been absorbed and supported by progressive local leaders. The plans unveiled back in 2024 worked. The good was kept, the ugly removed, the mediocre improved and new beauty created.

And yet the essential character of Tullamore still remains- possibly because we heeded the advice of Tancredi in Lampedusa’s famous novel ‘ The Leopard’- ‘If we want things to stay the same, they will just have to change’.