Green light for €10m development to convert fire-hit convent in Skibbereen

Four-storey apartment block planned, along with row of terraced houses

The former Sisters of Mercy convent which was gutted by fire in Skibbereen, West Cork, on September 29, 2021. Picture Dan Linehan

Planning permission has been granted to convert a former convent in Skibbereen, Co Cork, which was destroyed in a fire last September, into a €10m development containing commercial facilities and apartments.

The ruling by An Bord Pleanála gives a green light to the development of a four-storey apartment block on the site as well as a small row of terraced houses.