Darver Castle refused planning for extension

Darver Castle has been refused planning permission by Louth County Council to build on a 13 square metre extension to its reception.

Owner of the popular wedding venue, Aidan Carville, applied for the extension at the start of March but it was refused on two counts by the local authority recently.

The council found that the proposed plans did not compliment the existing protected structure under the Louth County Development Plan 2009-2015, while they also felt the proposed extension would be “detrimental to the character of the archaeological site or its setting.” On the latter, they said the applicants had not demonstrated that the proposed development would not be detrimental to the Tower House on site.

€5.4m expansion planned for Darver Castle

A €5.4m expansion project is planned for Darver Castle, just outside Dundalk.

The Carville family are planning to offer increased facilities for its wedding guests. Currently the castle has 11 bedrooms and guests can also avail of two houses, which are set on the 50 acres of parkland.

New work will include the addition of a bedroom block containing 26 bedrooms, a new restaurant, bar, kitchen and reception area as well as the conversion of existing buildings to a civil ceremony chapel.

Planning permission for the expansion has been in place for around 18 months but the Carville family recently applied for further permission to expand the reception area of the castle. It is not known when work will start on the project, which is one of more than €300m worth of building projects currently in the pipeline in the hotel and leisure sector nationally.

Darver Castle looking to expand

Darver Castle are hoping to extend the reception area of the castle.

Owner Aidan Carville has applied to Louth County Council for planning permission for a 13 square metre extension to the 15^th Century castle, which is a protected structure.

The local authority are due to make a decision on the matter on March 19^th.