We were thrilled to see our work featured on the opening episode of Buildings Beo,
the new TG4 series presented by Carrie Crowley, which aired on Wednesday 19
November 2025. The episode shone a national spotlight on the transformation of the
historic Hope Castle Gate Lodge in Castleblayney, Co. Monaghan, into a state-of-
the-art community library, a project on which Craftstudio Architecture served as
conservation architects.

The Gate Lodge is steeped in history. Originally the entrance to Blayney Castle, the
focal point of the town that gives Castleblayney its name, the castle was renamed
Hope Castle in the 1850s. Over time the gate lodge fell into disrepair, sitting vacant
and deteriorating off the historic market square, beside the picturesque public park
surrounding Lough Muckno. The building’s transformation into a thriving community
library is a remarkable story of vision, community commitment and architectural
conservation.

As conservation architects, our role was to carefully preserve the historic character
and fabric of this protected structure while reimagining it as a modern, accessible
facility beloved by residents of all ages. Buildings Beo followed the restoration
journey first-hand, capturing the trials, tribulations and triumphs of bringing a building
of this significance back to life, and the episode offered a compelling behind-the-
scenes look at the work involved in sensitively transforming one of Castleblayney’s
most recognisable landmarks.

Buildings Beo is a six-part series celebrating Ireland’s architectural heritage, with
each episode following a different restoration project across the country. With over
166,000 vacant buildings in Ireland today, the series makes a powerful case for the
renewal of our built environment. We are proud that the Castleblayney library project
was chosen to open the series, and that the story of this remarkable building and its
community has reached a national audience on TG4.