THE BIG READ: Urban design in Tullamore - A new broom and an old master

THE arrival of a new Chief Executive to guide Offaly County Council is always a big event. When the newcomer has a background in urban design it becomes an even more intriguing appointment.

Having qualified as a town planner from University College Dublin in 1993, Eoghan Ryan exhibited a consistent interest in architecture and heritage. As the chief urban designer with the National Building Agency for fifteen years he demonstrated his skills. His stints in various Government departments have honed his administrative ability.

He now comes to Offaly following six successful years as Director of Planning and Strategic Development Services in County Kildare where he had the responsibility for guiding the County’s extensive planning programme.

During his tenure he led the adoption of a new County Development Plan and oversaw the delivery of Local Area Plans for Athy, Monasterevan, Newbridge, Maynooth, Leixlip, Kildare town and Naas. As part of the Plan for Naas - a town that architecturally isn't a patch on Tullamore- a superb urban evaluation was commissioned which led to the introduction of Conservation Areas to protect its streets and spaces.

In making the new County Plan he conducted entertaining podcasts which helped in explaining and selling its provisions to the public. As Naas Town Manager he delivered the vibrant Potato Market which has proved very popular with both the public and independent traders.

So, as he settles into his new job, he might be interested to learn of Tullamore’s first and last attempt at urban design.

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Gibney’s Grand Plan

In the 1950s the visionary architect and town planner Frank Gibney was commissioned to provide a plan for Tullamore. His brief was to identify sites and layouts for local authority housing schemes and to suggest a line for a future bypass.

But, as with the plans he prepared for many Irish towns in this period, while solving the practical problems set for him he embarked on an uncalled for urban vision determined by his own aesthetic principles.

Gibney suggested that the town expand into four new neighbourhoods. The first to be developed would be in the then almost totally undeveloped lands between the Rahan and Arden Roads

Perceiving that in the fullness of time the capacities of these semi-rural roads would be inadequate to cater for the high traffic volumes generated by this new suburb, he made the dramatic proposal of creating an entirely new access road into the town centre off his planned bypass along the line of Collins Lane

This new boulevard would be aligned with the spire of the Church of Assumption in the distance. Two thirds the way down would be a formal urban square (presumably the site for a significant work of art) at which point the road would split, one branch proceeding southward across a new road bridge over the canal to arrive into the town centre at the junction of Patrick Street and Kilbride Street, the other connecting to the Arden Road and focusing on the new County Hospital.

At the heart of this new neighbourhood would be an extensive public park. The lands between it and the bypass would be devoted to architecturally significant civic buildings such as County Headquarters or a Leisure Centre set in landscaped grounds. The whole ensemble would provide an entrance to the town from the north to match the civic grandeur of the Charleville Road on the south.

An Unfinished Vision

Had it been built as planned the avenue would have ranked along with Gibney’s Bord na Mona villages as amongst the highlights of mid 20th century Irish urban design.

It never happened of course. In those difficult times there wasn't the will, the money or the powers to control the future of such a large area of land- particularly one in a multiplicity of private ownerships.

But the Council did buy the picturesque but uninhabitable ancient cabins along the Canal bank and replaced them with the magnificent terraces of Clontarf Road which were designed by Gibney and today have become an iconic image of Tullamore.

As a foretaste of the overall grand vision, a gap was left in the middle to accommodate the future entrance into the town which, it was presumed, would arrive in more prosperous times.

In later years the lands between the Arden and Clara Roads were to develop into a vast suburb stretching far beyond Gibney's barrier of Collins Lane. The small industrial estate he envisaged was to grow into a conglomeration of high tech industries and became the economic driver of Tullamore.

But subsequent plans didn't include any central spine link – even a slimmed down pathway – and the great majority of shopping and school trips are by car onto the congested Arden and Clara Roads . The possibility of using the bridge (which eventually arrived as a pedestrian rather than a traffic facility) as a safe cycling and walking access to the town centre for the inhabitants of the almost two thousand houses north of the Canal never materialised.

Is it too late to revisit that lost opportunity?

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A More Beautiful Town

The long awaited making of the first Urban Area Plan for Tullamore cannot be delayed for much longer.

When eventually adopted it will undoubtedly make the town a better place to live, work and play. Hopefully it will also incorporate a civic design vision inspired by Gibney’s Clontarf Road terraces and the regular lines of canal side poplars which are today amongst the most popular and recognizable images of Tullamore. We urgently need new elegant buildings, streets and landscaping to match those.

The redevelopment of the Grand Canal Harbour, and the regeneration of the streets and squares of Tullamore will provide Eoghan Ryan with opportunities that few Irish urban designers have been granted.

I for one wish him every success in his exciting new task.