Extension and refurbishment of a Victorian semi-detached dwelling in the centre of Galway by ORA Architects. The design focused on the potential of the section to bring light into the centre of the space. Custom made built in furniture and stained glass in combination with personal pieces create a truly unique contemporary home. 

From Generation to generation... the story of Kylemore Abbey.

Kylemore Abbey, on the edge of Pollacappul Lough, has undergone several adaptions over the course of its romantic and sometimes tragic existence: from the adaptation of Kylemore Lodge to a castle by Mitchell Henry in 1867, as an elaborate love token for his wife Margaret, to its conversion to a Benedictine Monastery in 1920, its use as a school from 1923 to 2010 and in more recent times its opening up to the public as a culturally significant tourist attraction.  

Much of the West wing of the abbey was destroyed by fire in 1959 – Axo Architects most recent project redirects visitors through the forgotten rear entrance court and has reinterpreted that west side of the abbey to extend and enhance the visitors’ experience of this internationally acclaimed building and landscape.  

Michael Horan, Axo Architects will led the tour. 

The corn mill is a recorded monument and part of an industrial complex. Restored using best conservation practises under the guidance of Ger. McManus (Conservation Architect) and Dr Fred Hamond (Industrial Archaeologist). 

Guided tours are led by owner Maria Kennedy. 

Tickets Free. Open on a ‘first come’ basis.

This extension to a 1920s townhouse by LiD Architecture remakes the retaining wall edge bounding the Eglinton Canal, it’s stepped floor levels and folding roof-planes re-negotiate a relationship to the canal and city beyond. 

LiD Architecture is an Award-winning practice, established in 2003 by Dougal Sheridan and Deirdre McMenamin.

Architect led Tour

In Connemara, the expulsion of cattle and division of the house into rooms are recent events. Oral tradition relates the former byre end divided from the kitchen by a partition for a bedroom. The plan of this house on holiday is a twelve metres square, economical speculation. Four dry limestone walls coursed on an expressed polished concrete slab prescribe a hipped and slated gazebo and avoid the small politics of front and back. Teach adhuain. The bedrooms are cabins under the loft. Each elevation shifts between the room and the landscape of a casual suburbia.

Sometimes the memory on the landscape can be negative and traumatic, and an adaptive reuse of a building can achieve the result of leaving an important part of our history intact, while simultaneously defusing the intensity of its negative associations. A very good example of such transformative possibilities is a project for the former Letterfrack Industrial School in Connemara.

Designed by O’ Donnell + Tuomey Architects the new addition to the reformatory school building is a Furniture College, a constituent part of Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, which is the National Centre of Excellence for Furniture Design and Wood Technology.

It also is home to Connemara West, a community owned and managed rural development company, which works to improve life for local people and includes facilities such as a creche, community radio, and office services.  

Open on a ‘first come’ basis. 

The Druid Theatre Company, founded in Galway in 1975, was the first Irish professional theatre company to be established outside Dublin. The Mick Lally Theatre has been the home of Druid’s work since 1979. The building was once a tea storehouse, owned by the McDonaghs, one of Galway’s famous merchant families. 

The renovation and extension of 19th century warehouses for the theatre was completed by de Paor Architects in 2009 - 2011.

Open on a ‘first come’ basis. 

The former Oughterard Courthouse, built in the classical style of William Callback, was derelict and vacant. In 2012 the local group Oughterard Restoration and Heritage Co. Ltd. sourced funding to adapt the building for use for the community providing educational and artistic facilities. Councilor Thomas Welby & Marin Doddy, architectural conservation officer, Galway County Council, explain the process undertaken. 

Open on a ‘first come’ basis.  Tours 11am-1pm & Talk 3pm-5pm