Developer submits plans for 66 apartments on Terenure synagogue site

A Dublin developer has applied for planning permission to build 66 apartments on the site of an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Terenure and demolish the existing structure, more than a year after the property was put up for sale with a guide price of €7.5 million.
The roughly 1,156 sq m site, which is owned by the Dublin Hebrew Congregation, was put on the market in early 2023 subject to planning permission. At the time, the congregation, which did not respond to requests for comment this week, said it was planning to downsize to a smaller premises nearby.
Granbrind Terenure Ltd submitted an application to Dublin City Council on September 20th to demolish the existing synagogue structure and build 66 apartments across three blocks, ranging from three to six storeys over basement. The site is bound by Rathfarnham Road to the west and Greenmount Lawns to the east.
The directors of Granbrind Terenure, which is registered at an address in Ballycoolin, Dublin 15, are listed as Anthony, Conor, Pearse and Mairtin Lydon. The Lydons are also listed as directors of the Adroit Company, the development firm behind the €63 million Kilternan Woods residential scheme in South Dublin among others.
The application is open for submissions from the public until October 24th.
In a letter of consent to the local authority, members of the congregation said they “fully support” Granbrind’s application as owners of the property.
The Orthodox Jewish organisation said in October 2023 it had received seven or eight expressions of interest in the Terenure synagogue but had decided to adopt a “wait and see” approach on the future of the building.
Congregation president Michael Stein said at the time the matter was discussed at its annual general meeting and that they were looking at “all options. It has a great past, is in a great location but it is an old building as are those who attend it. Most are 70-plus, with children and grandchildren abroad, while most of the new Jews arriving in Ireland are transient.”
The Terenure synagogue is a distinctive building, designed by Irish architect Wilfred Cantwell and dedicated in 1953.