Bug hotel close to Waterford border destroyed in fire rebuilt
The new Ink Bottle Bug Hotel in Piltown in March 2026. Picture Credit: Keep Piltown Tidy on Facebook.
The bug hotel in Piltown is back.
The former structure was destroyed in a fire last September.
But this week, Keep Piltown Tidy, the group behind the bug hotel, announced on social media that the new structure is in place.
“Congratulations! The bug hotel is back up!!!,” the group wrote on social media.
Bug hotels are structures that gives insects a place to shelter while breeding or hibernating and are a way of protecting wildlife, in particular pollinators, from predators and the elements.
The Ink Bottle Bug Hotel was constructed by Keep Piltown Tidy and sponsored by Centra Hicksons and John O’Shea Trust in 2025.
A redevelopment of the old gate lodge at Belline House, the bug hotel had five layers and included a section for nesting birds and bats.
After the fire, Keep Piltown Tidy said on social media that they are “disappointed and hurt” by the incident.
An idonate page was set up to fund the redevelopment of the bug hotel.
That page raised over €5,000.
Construction started in early March and it was announced finished on March 16, just in time for St Patrick’s Day.
