St Kevin's Hospital Shanakiel Cork

V.W.L 11

Does anyone have any updates on what is going on with this building???fascinating place,just abandoned by the now H.S.E and decaying slowly since it closed in March 2002,which is an absolute pity for such an historic place.

osotogari

Abandoned Ireland did a tour of the place, check out the condition of the place http://www.abandonedireland.com/skv_1.html

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osotogari wrote: »

Abandoned Ireland did a tour of the place, check out the condition of the place http://www.abandonedireland.com/skv_1.html

Oh dear it is poor on the inside and that is being polite about it,trees growing through it also,i see from some of the photos that they were taken a few years back,i know it has been barricaded with shutters making access difficult if not near imposdible,do you know where i could find pictures of it within the last few months,i believe there is a right of way going through the grounds of it meaning it cannot be entirely closed off to the public?

Milly33

It is mad that they have left this place go to pot..There are so many groups and people who are interested in the place for all types or reasons they could make money out of it if they done things properly..

It will probably catch fire some time soon like the good shepard and be burnt down..

james987

Is there something going on up there at the moment/in recent times?
I was walking along the river on the Carrigrohane Rd side a month or so ago and it seemed to be a hive of activity. Multiple diggers and tractors around. Looked like they were clearing the front of it.

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looked like they were clearing vegetation more than anything else,i seen what you saw OP,milly I agree with you,if things keep going as they are it will burn to the ground,a next to the church was burned down last year,there have been a few fires in recent years at the site but only minor I think,that place is as you say a big attraction country wide,it was highlighted on the evening echo last year or the year before about the state it has fallen in to,i'd be interested in going there with a group but not alone.

gimmick

I walk my dog there every day.

They were clearing the overgrowth for a few months from around August until October. Apparently this was to prevent anti social behaviour down there. Since Mid October nothing at all has happened down there. A security can goes in a few times a day.

It is for sale for approx €255k. That is well and good, but to clear the land again, fumigate and rebuild the buildings from the inside (Id imagine preservation orders are on the buildings) you are looking at millions.

Not to mention there is a housing estate on its doorstep, the residents of which would probably object en masse to any building plans that might happen there from a traffic point of view.

Its wasted land. I cannot see that changing for a long time.

TBH, I hope nothing does, as I will lose my handy dog walking spot if something does

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gimmick wrote: »

I walk my dog there every day.

They were clearing the overgrowth for a few months from around August until October. Apparently this was to prevent anti social behaviour down there. Since Mid October nothing at all has happened down there. A security can goes in a few times a day.

It is for sale for approx €255k. That is well and good, but to clear the land again, fumigate and rebuild the buildings from the inside (Id imagine preservation orders are on the buildings) you are looking at millions.

Not to mention there is a housing estate on its doorstep, the residents of which would probably object en masse to any building plans that might happen there from a traffic point of view.

Its wasted land. I cannot see that changing for a long time.

TBH, I hope nothing does, as I will lose my handy dog walking spot if something does

Is it safe to walk down there???finding a clear point of access is not easy,is it still possible to exit the other end???would love to take a few photos of the red building itself,but yes it is a protected structure,gut the inside no problem but all they could pretty much do on the outside is clean up the graffiti and a few minor tweaks but i never knew it was for sale,owen o callaghan could afford to renovate it :-)

gimmick

Yes, perfectly safe.

There are a few access points. I don't think you can access from the old hospital anymore, but you can get in either from the entrance to the housing estate or from the Blarney Road.

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gimmick wrote: »

Yes, perfectly safe.

There are a few access points. I don't think you can access from the old hospital anymore, but you can get in either from the entrance to the housing estate or from the Blarney Road.

Thanks for that,must arrange a trip soon so

Milly33

A walk around there is quite nice and interesting something to spend the day doing. Gimmick is right with the access you used to be able to get through by St. Annes but not the last time we tried..

I have tried many a time to get inside the main building but no luck. Really frustrating thinking of what they could do with it..Even if they just made if safe as such there are groups who would pay to go stay the night there..it is like their big dark secret it they ignore it, it might go away

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Milly33 wrote: »

A walk around there is quite nice and interesting something to spend the day doing. Gimmick is right with the access you used to be able to get through by St. Annes but not the last time we tried..

I have tried many a time to get inside the main building but no luck. Really frustrating thinking of what they could do with it..Even if they just made if safe as such there are groups who would pay to go stay the night there..it is like their big dark secret it they ignore it, it might go away

I was down that way earlier and the i seen a way in there similar to what yourself and gimmick said,i wouldnt go in at all but even to just get down there is more my main thing,last time i was there was the summer of 2003,and it was still fairly easy to access then unlike now,i doubt they'll make anything of it,the residents of the new housing estates above it would object,but judging by the abandoned ireland website the inside of it is in an awful state,the whole interior would need to be gutted,you planning any visits to it???also check out a website called flickr,a guy called Michael P. O'Brien has spent an awful lot of his time researching that place.

Flesh Gorden

I'd love to be able to see the insides before it crumbles

A cousin of mine whose a pretty good photographer was explaining to me how with a long exposure in such dark surroundings,
it would be easy to create pretty cool 'ghost' effects.

Milly33 wrote: »

I have tried many a time to get inside the main building but no luck.

I remember hearing before that if security find one of the boards removed from the windows that they're under instruction to immediately secure it again meaning sommeone could easily get stuck inside.

gobnaitolunacy

Think the future is bleak, it's either going to be burnt out by toerags or it's going to reach a point where it becomes too derelict to do anything with it and it'll get demolished. It was grand years ago you could visit and take picks without a rent a cop coming along and treating you the same way as a scummer.

gimmick

There have been a number of fires there. That is why the security is there now and why the overgrowth was removed.

It wont be demolished due to the preservation order.

So that point has come and gone for now.

Maybe in the next boom.

gobnaitolunacy

gimmick wrote: »

It wont be demolished due to the preservation order.

For now, if it gets unsafe any H&S concerns will override this. It'll probably be torched long before that happens.

Listing is all very well but there's no incentive to do anything to an unused building other than board it up. The HSE should sell it off to an interested party rather than spend any more on securing it, but we all know how long the HSE takes pulling its finger out of its ass.

Milly33

but sure arent they busy with all they have on at the moment!!

angeline

Have always been fascinated by this building and the poor souls who died here. Managed to drive around there a few years ago and it was pretty creepy. Would love to have a good look around the inside of it though.

V.W.L 11

I know somebody who was an in-patient there for 4 months over 20 years ago,lets just say they aren't willing to speak of their time in there

Milly33

thank god they got out of there.. I hope they are ok... I was reading about the heat treatments they used to do there, nasty people

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Milly33 wrote: »

thank god they got out of there.. I hope they are ok... I was reading about the heat treatments they used to do there, nasty people

they are still medicated to this day sadly,but as for what went on in there I have no idea,however there still is an underground tunnel there that was used to transport patients,which inself was unfortunate to have to live with,putting its history aside though it is a building of significant heritage.

Milly33

Oh dear. The tunnel is kinda freaky alright but I think it was a standard thing down in hospitals at the time, it was probably the nicest thing they done for patients not trailing them through the rain actually saying that thinking jes did they even see the sun.

I would think that is why no one wants to do anything with the place. It is like well if we ignore it long enough people with forget what happened there and what responsibilities they should have had to patients there

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I was told stories of people being injected to calm them,living in filthy conditions such as dirty wards,toilets kitchens etc,at one time even wearing soiled clothing,as for the tunnel,i imagine sunlight was minimal if they were transported through it as you say,as a previous poster said though it culd end up like the good shepherd convent yet if something isn't done,a red brick building next to the church was totally gutted last year,roof collapsed also,leaving just a bare shell.

V.W.L 11

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

For now, if it gets unsafe any H&S concerns will override this. It'll probably be torched long before that happens.

Listing is all very well but there's no incentive to do anything to an unused building other than board it up. The HSE should sell it off to an interested party rather than spend any more on securing it, but we all know how long the HSE takes pulling its finger out of its ass.

AFIK its up for sale,cheap considering its size and the land its on,i'm open to correction on this.

gobnaitolunacy

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

AFIK its up for sale,cheap considering its size and the land its on,i'm open to correction on this.

Could well be the case. Can't imagine a rush of prospective buyers considering what it was used for.

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gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Could well be the case. Can't imagine a rush of prospective buyers considering what it was used for.

Well if there was no interest during the boom years what hope is there now???regarding the OP saying the building being listed which is correct,remember the good shepherd convent was/is listed,but since the fire i wonder will the remainder of that be demolished???st kevin's could but hopefully wont suffer the same fate,the main building has had a few near misses.

gimmick

V.W.L 11 wrote: »

AFIK its up for sale,cheap considering its size and the land its on,i'm open to correction on this.

gobnaitolunacy wrote: »

Could well be the case. Can't imagine a rush of prospective buyers considering what it was used for.

It is for sale. €255k as mentioned above.

It wasn't for sale during the boom. It was somewhat still operational in 2007 as there were HSE offices there.

I cannot imagine its previous use would have any bearing on prospective buyers. Sure didnt the hospital which is now "Atkins Hall" get redeveloped. The thing stopping any buyers would eb the huge cost to clean it out completely and start all over again. You are looking at 10's of millions.

gobnaitolunacy

Oh yes 'Atkins Hall apartments'...sounds better than 'Eglinton Lunatic Asylum apartments' on the brouchures.
Has it all been converted or is some of it still derelict?

http://www.jamesgalvin.com/2008/03/24/why-cork-is-more-corrupt-than-the-sopranos/

gimmick

The left hand side as you look at is is converted. The right half is still derelict.

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It would probably be cheaper now than in 2007 to convert it,clean it up etc,could be used as student accomodation for example,but how has the atkins hall development gone down???is it positi e or negative?as in the converted part that is now apartments???from previous pictures the church is in reasonably good condition except for the inside is mostly full of bird sh1t

Geniass

Hopefully not considered resurrecting a zombie thread.

Myself and my wife walked around the red building, church and grounds on Sunday.

I'm originally from Cork county, but have no idea about the history of these buildings. We could see them from the Kingsley hotel and thought we'd drive up.

Fascinating buildings. I was able to give a brief look around the inside of the derelict portion of the Grey building, but it seemed too dangerous to do much exploring.

I would have loved to stay longer, but my normally very sensible wife got freaked out and felt very uncomfortable around the red brick building & derelict church.

It's only later we found out is was a former insane asylum. Only starting to research the two buildings now.

Was the red building the convent and the grey building the hospital?