A NUN whose multi-millionaire parents donated historic Killarney House to the nation, has vowed not to return to Kerry until the house is restored.Sr Pauline McShain, now living in Pennsylvania, USA, said it would be too upsetting for her to see the house in its present state.
Recently, Environment Minister John Gormley announced a €1 million allocation to carry out preliminary repair works on the building which has fallen into disrepair since been taken over by the Government in 1998.
Sr Pauline – the only child of the late John and Mary McShain – welcomed the allocation, but said she had expected the work to be done much sooner and the house opened to the public.
Mr McShain, a leading Irish-American building contractor, handed over the house on the understanding it would be developed into a cultural and information centre for Killarney National Park. However, the house has been allowed deteriorate, with squatters living there at one stage.
Preliminary work has started, with repair work to be completed by the end of the year.
"I am delighted. This is something we were hoping for since we turned over the property to the Government," she told Radio Kerry. "I hope that the house will be open soon, at least in a reasonable period of time, to the public and that, in the meantime, Ireland will work to attract tourists. Once they come to Ireland, Killarney House will be a great attraction.
"I have been living in hope ever since I left Killarney in 1998 that the Government would do as they promised. I still have confidence that this will be accomplished. But I certainly expected it to be done sooner than this," she added.
The building, located on the edge of the town and in Killarney National Park, is expected to be new visitor centre for the park.
Sr Pauline believed the work would more than pay for itself as the house would be a major tourist attraction.
The house had meant everything to her parents who spent much of their lives in it from the 1950s onwards, she said.
"The house represented peace and beauty to them. It represented to them their Irish heritage. I think my mother and father’s happiest years were spent together in Ireland," she said.