Main pic: The former Donegal Carpet Factory in Killybegs. Image: Google Maps.
Permission is to be sought from Donegal County Council to convert part of the famous Donegal Carpet Factory for apartments.
Greenlands Asset Holdings Ltd intends to apply for the change of use of existing disused units, known as the Carpet Factory Centre in Killybegs, to eight apartments.
The historic building, a Protected Structure, is located at New Row in the town. Another part of the same building has recently been converted for use as a performance space called The Music Loom.
The factory, which dates back to the 1890s, once supplied hand-woven carpets to Dublin Castle, Aras an Uachataran, Buckingham Palace, the Vatican and the US White House.
For almost a century, Killybegs was reputed to have had one of the finest carpet making reputations in the world. Although carpet making was already a long-established tradition in Donegal, the county’s prestige in the trade was pioneered by Donegal Carpets, founded by Scottish textile manufacturer Alexander Morton in 1898.
The factory closed in 1987, partially reopened in 1997, and was used as a centre dedicated to the history of the town’s fishing and carpet-making heritage since 2006. However, it was forced to close in 2021 when the building was sold.
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