Almost 250 homes planned for Killarney's Cronin's Wood

The site, just east of Killarney town centre at Cronin’s Wood, is bordered by a large ring fort and in the general vicinity of a number of ring or fairy forts and other recorded monuments. Picture: Don MacMonagle

A planning application has been submitted to Kerry County Council for a large-scale housing development in Killarney.

Kenmare-based KPH Construction plans to build 249 new residential units on the site at Upper Park Road.

The site, just east of Killarney town centre at Cronin’s Wood, is bordered by a large ring fort and in the general vicinity of a number of ring or fairy forts and other recorded monuments.

The company has permission from the two owners of the lands, including Kerry County Council, to construct the development on their lands.

It proposes to build a mix of housing.

The development includes 68 two-bed apartments and 38 one-bed apartments, with all houses and apartments set to be contained in two-storey terraced or semi-detached buildings as well as a two-storey creche.

A new, two-way cyclepath and a footpath along Upper Park Road, with pedestrian crossings on Upper Park Road is also proposed.

A number of reports accompany the application, including an archaeological impact report. That report notes the present site is ‘stripped’ of trees and top soil and the ground level altered 'substantially'.

Two soil heaps which contain topsoil and excavated material from the previous works located on the site are considered to have archaeological material, the report states.

This work was carried out before the current owner took ownership, the report by Aegis Archaeology notes.

Archaeological monitoring

In 2021, a previous applicant carried out site clearance work for a 96-unit development, which stripped all soil and reduced ground levels substantially, without complying with requisite archaeological monitoring.

Summonses were issued by Kerry County Council and in June 2021 the Cork-based company then involved pleaded guilty and was fined at Killarney District Court.

Kippagh Developments Ltd, of Ballyleigh, Leamlara, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to two summonses by Kerry County Council and was fined a total of €4,000 and ordered to pay the council’s legal costs for failing to carry out archaeological monitoring in November 2020 in the Cronin’s Wood site.

The company admitted it had failed to comply with the terms of an enforcement notice issued by Kerry County Council on September 18, by not submitting an archaeological report as required by condition 16 of its planning permission, an offence under Section 154 of the Planning Acts.

The company pleaded guilty also under Section 151 of the Planning Act — that on August 19, 2020, it had failed to comply with Condition 16 of its 2016 planning permission by not having submitted an archaeological monitoring report and had therefore carried out “an unauthorised development”.