After decades waiting for a rejuvenation scheme, Renmore is to receive three: a three-phase parks project, a Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa Masterplan, and redevelopment of the adjacent Port of Galway.
All is not, however, plain sailing in the city’s eastern, garden suburb, mostly laid out in the early 1960s, with rivalry between local sports clubs on future green space usage, worries about public access after security upgrades of its vast military estate, and concern about the impact of a giant breakwater on Murrough’s lowlands and Ballyloughane beach.
Over the past 18 months, Galway City Council has held three public consultations on a €20 million rejuvenation of the suburb. In April, after a 12-year process, port authorities received planning permission for a 216 hectare extension into Galway Bay facing Renmore, and the Department of Defence has confirmed to the Advertiser that Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa is to undergo a major, multi-million refit, with the first phase commencing late 2026.
City East councillor Alan Cheevers (FF ) has called for a compromise solution to tension between Connacht Hockey and Renmore AFC in their responses to proposals for all weather surfaces as part of Renmore’s planned amenities, and that active travel plans for new pathways through Nolan Park should not impinge on its GAA pitches. “The main thing [planners] have to do is decide exactly where the playground will be; there are so many young families living there now, it must be the priority,” he said.
The Defence Forces will announce a development masterplan for the 145-year-old military base this autumn, as part of its 2026 national allocation of €300 million for capital expenditure, and a further €900 million up to 2028.
With planning permission now approved for the nearby port expansion to include a naval wharf, and landing points for strategic, trans-oceanic fibre optics – including the 15,000 km Far North Fibre (FNF ) subsea cable linking Europe with Japan via the Arctic Circle – calls for a permanent Naval Service presence in Galway, and shoreside, marine security capability, are gaining momentum.
Port expansion
Hundreds of millions of euros of investment is the missing piece for the port plan, but there are also concerns that two proposed breakwaters, one to protect small boats in a new tidal marina, and a second, massive Outer Port Protection Barrier reaching half way to Hare Island, could have unforeseen environmental impacts, or complicate coastal flood risks.
The city council recently rezoned 34 hectares of greenfield land in Murrough for development of up to 2,500 housing units, mostly between the railway embankment and unarmoured coastline, from Ballyloughane toward Roscam, but the Renmore Residents’ Association, Office of Planning Regulator and local councillors have all raised queries connected to the impact of new port infrastructure on flood risks.
“Not one block should be laid in Murrough until all environmental impact studies are complete, a Renmore railway station approved, and the land serviced with power and water,” says City East councillor Shane Forde (FG ). “We shouldn’t make the same mistakes as Ardaun,” he added, in reference to lands earmarked for a new suburb between Briarhill and Carnmore Cross, which have remained largely unserviced for 15 years.
Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa in Renmore must be upgraded for recruitment, training and base security reasons, but its potential future role as a logistics support centre for nearby Naval Reserve facilities, whether in the city or at Rossaveal, or as a location for components of the army’s mooted Special Forces’ Air and Maritime Task Group, is also on military planners’ minds.
They are evaluating a littoral capability for complex, near-shore environments as envisaged in the Defence Force’s future Army Force Design plans. Renmore Barracks’ coastal location is seen by some strategists as well-suited for building a ‘marine’ force, with an established heliport and proximity to the harbour for Naval assets, including the possibility of a command post for Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs ) – essentially remote-control, naval drones designed for search and rescue, and maritime surveillance.
This capability is understood to be pertinent in light of plans for at least three new subsea communications cables landing in the west of Ireland, plus concerns raised at European level that parts of the region’s coastline are poorly policed, creating a magnet for drug smugglers and other malign actors.
Renmore Barracks is currently undergoing a major overhaul of its entire electrical systems ahead of its own masterplan, and of its water and waste water services. Some piping dates back to the late 1850s, when the Royal Corps of Engineers first serviced land on Rinnmore Point, purchased by the British government’s War Department from the Wilson-Lynch family, 30 years before the current barracks were completed. It is understood the facility has had no integrated overhaul since the 1950s, at which time cavalry units were redeployed, and it became solely the depot for An Chéad Chathlán Coisithe, the army’s traditionally Irish-speaking light infantry battalion.
Plans include a state-of-the-art, €7 million gym and education facility overlooking Galway Bay, and improved access to Deadman’s Beach next door, where the army intends to run adventure training in small boats.
Department of Defence lawyers and city council officials are understood to be looking at indemnity and public liability issues on creating improved public access to this neighbourhood beach as part of the Renmore parks project, with pedestrian and cycle links to a proposed Lough Atalia loop, and potentially to the city centre, via the docks. Deadman’s lies next to a Special Area of Conservation (SAC ) wetland, including nesting sites for rare birds.
The Barracks currently accommodates 270 soldiers, but can host 500, with a new, regional recruitment drive now in place. Up to 20 newly passed-out privates are expected in Renmore each year, and practically all now seek live-in accomodation in response to the housing crisis. In response, there is a push to build new, modern barrack blocks – possibly in the old Army Reserve Building opposite the chapel – and transform existing two- and three-bed bunk rooms with shared bathrooms into single, en-suite units. A new €12.3 million, 69-bed USAC Building (University Students Accomodation Complement ) was opened next to Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa for officer cadets in February.
New shower, storage and locker facilities are also planned for staff living off-base, so uniforms and other kit may be left securely in the barracks when off-duty.
Security concerns
New touch-sensitive fencing outside the walled perimeter of Renmore Barracks, rigged with motion-triggered CCTV, lighting and alarm systems, may prove the most contentious development for the local community after military authorities performed a security audit of the barracks after a knife attack on chaplain Fr Paul Murphy, in 2024.
Plans to move the base’s main gate forward to the railway bridge would essentially close civilian access to a military service road and paths around the main barracks favoured by dog walkers for decades, but public access to St Patrick’s Garrison Church will be maintained.
This fortification of Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa would essentially maroon a 10-acre chunk of land purchased by city authorities from the army in 2009 for €250,316. This scrubland, surrounding now-derelict houses for married soldiers’ families, was to form a link from public paths through Liam Mellowes GAA club, and connect with the pedestrian route owned by Iarnród Eireann – known as ‘The Line’ – via the military service road which provides access to Mellows Pitch & Putt Club on land leased by its members from the Minister for Defence since 1968.
Instead, negotiation began in March for a potential landswap between City Hall and the Army, with the Department of Defence committing to fund a €1.2 million pedestrian and cycle bridge over the railway to Dún Na Mara. Because of the army’s security issues, and concerns about military vehicles criss-crossing major active travel infrastructure, city officials have abandoned coastal routes, and are currently looking at laying cycle paths along the northern side of the railway line to connect the city with the Dublin-Galway greenway, which will terminate in Ballyloughane.
A spokesman for the Department of Defence said negotiations were “extremely positive, and an agreed pathway emerged that will allow both the Renmore Neighbourhood Project and the forthcoming Renmore Barracks Masterplan to progress in a coordinated way that addresses all concerns. The costs of any bridge in proximity to the barracks will be considered in the context of both the Renmore Neighbourhood Project and the proposed Renmore Barracks Masterplan.” [email protected]
