Hellfire Update

Hellfire is a development led by South Dublin County Council, supported by Coillte. The Project is intended to serve as a gateway to the wider leisure and tourism opportunities available in the Dublin Mountains. It will offer visitors a place of orientation and interpretation, informing them about the geography, archaeology and history of the area, including the immediate vicinity around Montpelier Hill, Massy’s Wood, and the Hellfire Club, as well as the wider Dublin Mountains region to the south.

The conservation element of the Project is progressing in Massy’s Wood. We will be carrying out appropriate conservation works, which supports the basic principles of good conservation practice, focusing on the repair and restoration of the historic fabric in the area. The aim is to continue to protect and maintain the existing built heritage of the gardens at the former Killakee House.

A summary of the necessary works are as follows:

• Surviving walls and planting relating to the landscape design by the White family, Ninian Niven and Richard Turner are to be preserved as part of the conservation repairs;
• Repairs to be carried out using lime mortar and specialist conservation masonry repair techniques;
• Fallen bricks and stones left around the wall bases to be retrieved and used for consolidating and repairing the walls;
• Encroaching ivy, invasive species and shrubs to be removed to access the walls and avoid risking further loss of historic fabric;
• Surviving decorative stone to the grotto are to be left in place and consolidated with matching stone;
• Rough racking and stone pinning of exposed wall heads where the walls are uneven;
• Consolidation of low-level voids and breaches to the walls at low level will allow the existing routes through the walled garden to be rationalised;
• Repairs to wall heads and arches;
• Loose or missing joints are to be raked out, pinned and pointed; and
• Removal of invasive species in the walled garden.

These works are being conducted in accordance with the Project’s planning permission requirements and best practice by specialist Conservation Contractor, James Oliver Hearty and Sons. They will be overseen by an RIAI Grade 1 Conservation Architect. Prior to the commencement of any works, the wall gardens and surrounding vegetation will be inspected by the Project Ecologist.

During the works, it may be necessary to temporarily restrict access to the walled garden to the public for health and safety reasons. Such closures shall only be for the minimum period of time needed to complete the works at that location.

The Conservation works at Massy’s Wood will occur from 17th September 2024 for a period of three months. For further information, please visit www.hellfiredublinmountains.ie or contact us on econdev@sdublincoco.ie