‘Piano house’ to be knocked down for car park expansion

A HOUSE where generations of Omagh schoolchildren learnt to play the piano is to be demolished to make way for more car parking spaces at a local supermarket.

The property on James Street, next to the Lidl store, belonged to Bridie Meyler, who died in 2017 at the age of 89.

Born, brought up and educated in the town, Mrs Meyler ran a grocery store for many years and also taught hundreds of local children and older people the joys of playing the piano.

At her funeral service, then Parish Priest of Drumragh, Monsignor Joseph Donnelly, spoke of how the talented musician had also formed a number of ceili bands.

Now her former home is to be knocked down to be make way for more car parking for the adjacent supermarket.

Landscaping will also be constructed to ensure that the site currently occupied by the former Meyler home is incorporated into the Lidl complex.

Planning permission for the development was granted by Fermanagh and Omagh District Council last week.

It gives the green light for the demolition of existing buildings at 20 and 21 James Street.

This follows consultations with a variety of statutory bodies, including the Department for Infrastructure Rivers Agency, the Historic Environment Division of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs and DfI Roads.

The development marks the latest stage in the expansion by Lidl in Omagh over the past two years.

Demolition work on the old store took place at the start of 2022, when the then Annie’s Bar was also knocked down to make way for the new expanded supermarket.

The area now occupied by the Lidl store is one of the most historic in Omagh, having been constructed on the site of the former Great Northern Railway as it entered the town.

The historic Omagh Railway Station was located just across the road from the store.