New chapter for Laois Jehovah's Witnesses as Kingdom Hall build begins in Portlaoise

Construction work has commenced in Portlaoise on a new place of worship for the Jehovah's Witnesses congregation in the town and Laois.

Builders moved on to the site of what will be a new Kingdom Hall to the rear of one of Portlaoise's landmark buildings on the Dublin Road just beside St Mary's Hall.

Construction started more than four years after the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Ireland first applied for permission to build the Hall behind Annfield House in April 2019. The historic house is a protected building wich was built in the early 1700s.

Laois County Council subsequently granted permission in November of that year while a further application to amend the plan was approved in 2022. The group, which has charitable status, told planners that the Hall will be used for the local congregation's religious practice. 

During the planning process, planners summarised the building as single storey with a floor area of 182.5sqm. Internally the building will accommodate an auditorium with 62 seats, a classroom with 18-20 seats, a small utility room, toilets and a lobby area.

Externally the building is finished with coloured render cedral weatherboard. Signage is also provided to the front elevation. Planners considered that the proposed design was acceptable. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

A group of neighbouring residents called for the trees to be retained and a concrete wall be built where the property boundary meets their gardens. The council called for a concrete and timber fence to be erected and for the trees to be saved if possible.

While within the curtilage of Annefield House, the development is not connected to the historic property built by Rev Canon Thomas Mosse who was Rector of Maryborough between 1691-1731. His son Dr Bartholomew Mosse, founder of the Dublin Rotunda Hospital, was born here in 1712, attributing additional historic importance to it.

The new local owner of Annefield House, who has no connection with the new development or Church, will be relocating his auditing and advisory business into the historic house. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

The group previously gathered for worship at a premises on the town's Ballyfin road.

A Christian movement, the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that establishing God's kingdom over earth is the only solution to all of humanity's problems

The church says there are 121 congregations around Ireland. The group emerged in the United States from the Bible Student movement founded in the 1870s.

Jehovah's Witnesses are known for their door-to-door preaching, distributing literature such as The Watchtower and Awake!, and for refusing military service and blood transfusions.