Restoration of Old St Patrick's CS to begin by end of year
Work on the restoration of the Old St Patrick's Classical School in Navan will begin by the end of the year or early in the new year.
The consultant architects for the project are finalising tender documents and Meath County Council intends to complete the procurement process and appoint a contractor before the end of the year.
In response to a question by Cllr John Duffy at last week's meeting of Navan Municipal Council, officials said would was likely to start late this year or early in 2026.
The plan to restore the iconic building for use as a county archive is part of a transformative urban regeneration project in the heart of Navan.
The work will provide for the conservation, restoration and adaptive re-use of the former St Patrick’s School /St Finian's Seminary Study Hall.
Cllr Duffy said it was great to see progress being made on the project.
"I was on Navan Town Council when council bought the building back around 2007. Nothing has really happened until now," he said.
"The work will make a fine job of that area, it will be great to see it going ahead. It will become the cultural centre of Navan with the library, Solstice and now the archive and museum.
"i welcome it and look forward to it happening. It is very positive. I'm delighted with what I saw of it in terms of plans."
The building, which is a nationally important protected structure, will be used as a multi-purpose community hub and county archive. It is also envisioned that it will create a new civic space with associated public realm enhancements and new urban pedestrian connections.
The project is co-funded by the Government and the EU through the ERDF Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme.
The project includes a new public realm and green space, including an outdoor amphitheatre and will create new urban linkages between the medieval core of Navan and the Cultural Quarter. It would also link to the new strategic town centre expansion area in the Trim Road, Carriage Road area, which would include the proposed Navan Central Train Station, thus improving urban mobility and permeability.
It will provide an archive repository which will store and preserve the written documentation which reflects Meath's social, political, commercial, and cultural history.
Fears for the building, which built between 1837-42 and is affectionately known as Powers Duck Egg, were intensified in 2021, when the roof fell in, sparking fears that the structure could collapse altogether, but stabilisation works were carried out and planning began for the county archive.
The building was constructed in the 19th century and had operated as St Finian's Seminary Study Hall, which relocated to Mullingar.
In the 1930s, the building housed St Patrick's Classical School for boys, before the school relocated to a campus on the outskirts of the town in the 1970s.