Tipperary councillors have approved, as reported by the Irish Independent and Tipperary Live, a plan by Grown in a Garden to turn Mullinahone’s derelict former barracks into a cosmetics factory, shop and café, giving small Irish beauty manufacturers a live example of village-centre production gaining planning consent.

Tipperary Live reported that Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District councillors unanimously approved the material contravention of the Tipperary County Development Plan at their monthly meeting, after Caroline Conway of the council’s planning section told members the application was submitted on 27 January.

According to planning documents on PlanningAlerts, the scheme includes a new single-storey manufacturing facility in the rear yard, renovation of the protected structure, a shop, a café with external dining terrace and offices.

Tipp FM reported that the intention is to bottle soaps and other cosmetics on site, so the use was not treated as industrial, though it still needed councillors’ approval; investment and job figures were not given.

Grown in a Garden Ltd is the company that produces the Dublin Herbalists brand of organic skincare and beauty products, according to Tipperary Live, and is described by Tipp FM as a local company.

The Irish Aesthete blog said the barracks dates from about 1850, was occupied by the Royal Irish Constabulary and then the Black and Tans, became the local Garda station, stood empty after closing and was bought in 2014 for conversion to a private residence.

Tipperary Live reported that Cllr Michael Brennan proposed approval and Fine Gael Cllr Mark Fitzgerald seconded, and Tipp FM reported Brennan describing the project as a great local success story.

The approval reflects small manufacturers locating light production in historic village buildings, with bottling treated as compatible with a retail and café setting rather than as industrial use.

Research and Markets estimates the organic skincare market at $14.77bn in 2026, growing 11.3 per cent a year to $22.7bn by 2030.

For the sector, the consent shows councillors weighing heritage reuse and village regeneration against land-use rules, prepared to contravene a county development plan for light manufacturing in a protected structure.

The wider signal for the sector is that small cosmetics producers are building integrated sites combining manufacturing, retail and hospitality at a single village site.

Source: Irish Independent / Tipperary Live / Tipp FM / The Irish Aesthete / Research and Markets