Kilkenny Town Hall entrance (top) and how it will look under new proposals
In Kilkenny.
A petition has been launched opposing a glazed enclosure on the classical arcade of Kilkenny Town Hall, known as the Tholsel and built in 1761.
And to reject the removal by Kilkenny County Council “of the beautiful ceremonial staircase from the body of the building”.
Padraig O’Ceallaigh writes:
This Disneyfication of Kilkenny has to stop. The Tholsel or Town Hall in Kilkenny city is a public building and a protected structure, classified as ‘a substantial edifice of national significance, forming an imposing centre piece in High Street’.
We, the people of Kilkenny, love it.
We love its public Arcade that welcomes musicians, artists, craftspeople, jugglers, carol singers and the Crib at Christmas, art exhibitions in the summer and meetings, remembrances, public gatherings and community fundraising events all year round.
This is Kilkenny’s public space, our Agora. We don’t want it enclosed, reduced in size, or glassed in for use as a ticket office, or anything else.
We’re also proud of the ceremonial staircase within the building. We don’t want to lose this either. It’s part of who we are, part of the Tholsel that we love. Leave it alone.
Sign here
Top pic by Andy Sheridan
The ghastly ‘after’ looks like it needed to be stripped out to reveal the glorious ‘before’.
Good on you Padraig.
I hope you can reverse this.
Public building with carol singers and the Crib at Christmas…. that doesn’t sound right …
Why would you even enclose it? What would the point be?