A number of people living in Inistioge have expressed their opposition to Kilkenny County Council’s draft plan for the future development of Woodstock Estate.
Kilkenny County Council received 43 written submissions during the eight-week period that the draft Local Area Plan was on public display, with a number of them objecting outright to the plan, while others cited a history of oppression and tyranny in their submission.
Local man Kevin Knox wrote: “This plan is only about one thing, the re-establishment of an era best forgotten and the tyrants that it contained, a lot of people are seeing the Woodstock Estate through rose tinted glasses, mine must have been lost in the post.
He continued; “this estate should be seen for what it is, a crumbling monument to British imperial colonial power and the people that were crushed under its heel.
“Far from the Tighes being a benevolent landlord they were robber barons who plundered the Irish people and the river Nore until the late 60s.
“Those with their rose tinted glasses often say it was a pity that the house was burned, but I think if you asked the ‘locals’ after the Black and Tans left they would have said it was a pity that it was not burned sooner and I agree with them.
“Only last week I looked at a picture of two young teenagers who were shot and bayoneted to death by the Black and Tans, their crime? being Irish and soft targets.
“Now it seems that instead of having to bow and touch our forlocks to the Tighes it will be Kilkenny County Council who think that they are our lords and masters.”
“As I have already said I object to this plan and for the most part find it wholly offensive,” he concluded.
Another local, Maura O’Neill recalled her earliest impression of Woodstock; “it was a dreadful place as my father was imprisoned there in February 1921 and after that was transferred to Spike Island until December 1921.”
She fears that some of her grandchildren and great grandchildren may not be able to build their own homes in the area and rejected the plan. “I believe it is invading our rights and imposing conditions not acceptable to me. For too many years landlords were in control in this country and I do not want that situation to arise again,” she concluded.
A number of others cited their concern over proposed building restrictions in the area and expressed the fear that their children may not be able to build their own homes in the future.
Others were concerned about extra traffic volumes which may be generated in Inisitioge as a result.
Paudie O’Neill who provided a detailed history of the estate concluded that he rejected the plan because it fails to address sustainability for all. “A new plan and a more inclusive approach for all is needed.”
County Manager Joe Crockett will present a report to Kilkenny County Council in the coming months.
