Repair begins on historic Iveagh Market roof

Refurbishment works at Iveagh Markets are set to begin this month. 

The iconic Francis Street landmark is set to undergo roof repair works after two decades of laying derelict. In 2023 a portion of the market’s roof fell in. 

The initial phase of the revamp will be overseen by a design team led by conservation experts Howley Hayes Cooney Architects, working for Dublin City Council. This phase involves creating a secure site in the historic market hall and erecting an internal scaffold and ‘crash decks’ to allow access to the expansive roof of the building, The Liberties Dublin reports. 

The project, which aims to make the markets structurally sound and watertight, will continue in phases over the next two years. The historic site was built by the Guinness family in 1906 and was closed in the 1990s. 

It has been at the centre of multiple legal cases. Last year the site was granted €9 million worth of funding under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund for essential conservation works. 

The market closed in 1996 and has been left derelict ever since. 

Part of the roof collapsed last year and heritage group Friends of the Iveagh Markets warned that the entire building was at risk of collapse without repair works. 

In late 2022, Dublin City Council secured the Iveagh Markets amid concerns over the deterioration of the historic building. 

“It would be a sin for the building to rot away there. Hopefully, this work will help to restore it to its former glory,” said Alice Martin, a resident in the Liberties. 

This deterioration led to the government committing €9 million through the Urban Development and Regeneration Fund to restore the roof, as the first part of a wider renewal of the building 

A further €3 million was then pledged by Dublin City Council, who appointed Howley Hayes Cooney Architects to oversee the initial phase of work to create a secure site and erect an internal scaffold and ‘crash decks’ to allow access to the roof of the building. 

The Liberties Business Area Improvement Initiative noted that the future use of the Iveagh Market is also yet to be determined and added that “there remains the vexed issue of contested ownership and ongoing legal proceedings”. 

In a statement, the group added: “Nevertheless, the beginning of the roof restoration project finally draws a line under the continued decline of the building and gives hope that the Iveagh Market will return to its place at the heart of The Liberties’ commercial life.” 

A tender for the main restoration works will be issued later this year and it’s expected that this work will take around a year to complete. 

The project team plans to publish regular bulletins on the progress of the project to keep the public informed.