Historic house near town centre to be bought by Kildare County Council

Kildare County Council has plans to purchase a historic house near the town centre in Naas.

The Alms House at Dublin Road is derelict  and has been vacant for about 20 years, according to local councillor Anne Breen.

A Naas Municipal District committee meeting was told that KCC is at “an advanced stage in regards to the purchase of the property.”

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The meeting was also told that the owner of the property adjacent to Alms house is “in regular communication with the vacant homes team and is preparing plans to develop the site.”

Cllr Breen commented that both properties need attention.

KCC said it will continue to monitor progress at both sites.

Just over a year ago plans to develop Alms House into apartments were abandoned. The Peter McVerry Trust, the national homeless and housing charity, had intended to redevelop this property.

The plan was to provide three self contained own door units consisting of one bedroom each, for  housing accommodation purposes. 

But the trust later advised KCC it is “no longer in a position to carry out this redevelopment.”

KCC then started talks with the St Vincent de Paul Society “regarding ownership of and the future use of the property.”

According to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, the building, also known as the Widows’ House, is of considerable historical and social importance and the building “attests to the longstanding presence of an almshouse on the site, the earliest of which is dated to 1590.”

It was extensively renovated in the late 20th century to accommodate residential use and “the building remains an attractive feature on the streetscape.”

It dates back to 1919.