From this week’s Galway City Tribune – British pub chain JD Wetherspoon has attempted to appease Council planners’ concerns – by translating the name of its proposed Eglinton Street premises into Irish.

And if the project does get the go ahead, it has been recommended that work be halted if any parts of the historic Town Walls are discovered.

Last July, the pub company applied for planning permission to carry out a €2.5 million overhaul of the former Carbon nightclub to create ‘The Three Red Sails’ – a bar and restaurant over two floors.

A number of concerns were subsequently raised by the City Council, including that the frontage did not include any bilingual signage – as is planning policy for the city centre.

Last week, a series of revisions and clarifications were submitted to the Council, including a name change indicated on the signage to the front.

“The revised drawings demonstrate that the proposed shopfront now includes bilingual signage (Irish and English). The proposed ‘The Three Red Sails’ is now in Irish Gaelic, i.e. ‘Na Trí Seolta Dearga’ in a Foglihten font. Left of this sign is the proposed ‘Wetherspoon’ sign in English above the proposed entrance,” the pub chain’s planning consultants told the Council.

An Archaeological, Architectural and Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment was carried out on behalf of Wetherspoon and found: “Geo-referencing of the historic mapping for the area indicates that the site likely overlies the location of the town walls of Galway, and potentially overlies two to three mural towers (Lion Tower, Little Gate Tower and Agnes Tower) as well as the outer moat of the city walls.

“There is also limited potential for portions of a 17th century corner bastion to underly the property. The entirety of the proposed development site is considered an area of archaeological potential,” the archaeological report reads.

It recommended that before any works take place and during site clearance and construction, detailed surveys be carried out on the existing buildings to record any elements that may be of architectural, archaeological or cultural heritage significance.
This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the March 17 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.