Plan to build 179 apartments on Bessborough grounds rejected

An Bord Pleanála said it is 'not satisfied that the site was not previously used as, and does not contain, a children's burial ground'

Developers have been refused permission to build apartments on the former Bessborough mother and baby home estate in Cork city amid concerns about the possible location of a children’s burial ground on the development site.

An Bord Pleanála has today said it would be premature to grant planning to MWB Two for their 179-unit strategic housing development (SHD) in three apartment blocks on a privately-owned 3.7-acre site in the south-eastern corner of the former estate before establishing the presence, and the extent of, any such burial site.