Cahir is in the middle of the largest set of public works it has seen in a long time. There is a regeneration programme running through the town centre in phases, and a national road project that will change how traffic reaches it. This page covers what has actually been contracted rather than what has been talked about.
The new library
Tipperary County Council signed the contract for the new Cahir Library with Mulcahy Construction on 9 October 2025. The contract is worth €1,763,355.12 excluding VAT, funded by the Rural Regeneration Development Fund and the council.
The library is going into the Granary building, a three storey landmark originally built in 1810, which is being altered and refurbished rather than replaced. Planned facilities are more ambitious than a town of this size usually gets: adult and children's libraries, an exhibition space, a study area and meeting room, a makers space with robotics and 3D printing, a sensory room and a podcasting studio. The council describes it as the first library in Tipperary to offer that suite of technology to the public.
It is expected to be in use by late 2026.
The car park and the Market House
Two further contracts were signed on 12 June 2025.
Phase 1b, the car park. Rathcabbin Tarmacadam are surfacing a new public car park on the site of the former Castle Court and Galtee Hotel, with parking for over eighty cars including accessible bays, space for five coaches, and electric vehicle charging. The contract is worth €1,697,830.85 excluding VAT.
This matters more than a car park usually would. Parking has been the practical constraint on Cahir town centre for years, and coach parking in particular has limited what the town can take from castle visitors.
Phase 3a, the Market House Business Centre enabling works. Mulcahy Construction are demolishing a rear extension and outbuildings at 25 Old Church Street, building a new rear extension, and opening a pedestrian link through to the new car park. The contract is worth €537,226.75 excluding VAT.
Both phases are funded by the Rural Regeneration Development Fund and the council. The whole regeneration programme is in the region of €15 million across its phases.
What that adds up to
Taken together, these are the pieces of a single plan: put the parking in one place, link it on foot to the Market House and the Granary, and give the town centre a reason for people to get out of the car and stay. Whether it works will depend on the public realm phases that follow, which cover paving, lighting and footpaths through the Square and the main streets.
For a town whose visitors have historically parked at the castle, looked at it, and driven on, that is the right problem to be solving.
The N24 upgrade
The N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction and Oola Transport Project is the larger scheme. It is identified as a priority investment in the National Development Plan 2021 to 2030 and covers the existing N24 between the M8 north of Cahir and a point west of Brooks Bridge in County Limerick.
Tipperary County Council is leading it in partnership with Limerick City and County Council, Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport, with Arup appointed as technical advisors. Design Update No. 3 was published in May 2025, following geotechnical, topographical and environmental surveys and continuing engagement with landowners. It followed Design Update No. 2 in October 2024.
The preferred solution includes active travel provision alongside the road, which is the part most relevant to Cahir: it would give the town a walking and cycling connection north that does not currently exist.
Current drawings, updates and consultation details are published at n24cahirlimerick.ie, which is the source to follow rather than any summary.
What this means if you are visiting
In the short term, construction. Expect works in the town centre through 2026 and changes to parking arrangements while the new car park is finished. Getting to Cahir covers the approach roads, and the castle, the Square and the riverside walk are unaffected.
In the medium term, a better town to spend a day in.
Keeping up
Tipperary County Council publishes contract signings and project updates for the Cahir and Cashel municipal district, and local radio and the Tipperary papers carry them. Those are the current sources. This page records what has been contracted and will be behind them.