Six-storey apartment block proposed on site of former Donnybrook Magdalene laundry

The property developer applying for planning permission to build apartment blocks up to six storeys on the site of the Magdalene laundry in Donnybrook , Dublin 4 , have clarified that they intend to erect an “information sign” to serve as a memorial to the site’s former use.

If permission is granted, a “post-and-panel-style information sign” is to stand at the base of the laundry’s 90m chimney, deemed a protected structure by Dublin City Council in 2012 and described by Pembroke Partnership Ltd as the “most suitable” location for a memorial.

Construction plans submitted recently to the council appear to place the memorial partially behind a bin in the centre of the site, although the developers wrote in their planning application that it would be “directly visible” from the site’s entrance on Donnybrook Crescent.