SIX MEMBERS of the Sisters of Charity in Cork city who range in age from 68 to 86 made an emotional move to a new convent yesterday, ending the order’s 140-year presence on Wellington Road in the city. The order first set up a convent on Wellington Road in 1868 as the building of St Patrick’s Hospital was taking place there.
Funding for the building ran out but the order rallied to raise the required money and the hospital opened in 1870.
A handful of nuns in the order established the hospital, which was the first dedicated cancer care centre in Ireland.
Over the years, St Patrick’s established itself as a centre of excellence and a key element of the health services in Cork, caring mainly for cancer and TB patients.
Today it provides extended and respite services for older people, and a full palliative care programme in Marymount Hospice, a specialist unit established in 1980.
The remaining six nuns have worked in a variety of roles at the hospital/hospice, including as sisters on the wards, in the kitchens and in the laundry.
The running of the site has now been officially handed over to a board of directors.
Sr Anne Curry, who is the leader of the community, said the move was a sad day for the nuns but they understood the necessity on a practical level.
“It’s something very special to be here, the history stretches back almost 140 years.
“It is very sad. We have a lot of good memories here. We realise that we have to move on. But it does not lessen the sadness we feel at leaving.”
Many of the nuns have spent much of their adult life in the Wellington Road convent since joining the order in the 1950s.
When Bishop of Cork and Ross Dr John Buckley held a final Mass at the convent for the sisters last week, he paid tribute to the sisters for their tireless dedication to St Patrick’s Hospital.
“This work was done with great generosity and without accolades. They deserve the admiration and thanks of us all.” During the sisters’ years in the community they set up the meals-on-wheels service and homecare for the elderly in the area.
Marymount Hospice and St Patrick’s Hospital will continue to operate in the site for the next few years. The aim is to transfer the development to a multimillion euro site in Bishopstown on the southside of Cork city over the next few years.
Last year Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin paid tribute to all concerned with the project and especially the Sisters of Charity, saying he knew of no greater act of selflessness and generosity in not only agreeing to the transfer but also allowing the sale of the site to go towards the cost of the new facility.
Funding for the €52 million project comes from a variety of sources, including a €10 million donation from Atlantic Philanthropies, the charity set up by Irish-American billionaire Charles Feeney, which has sought to assist projects for older people in Ireland.
The Government is also assisting with grant aid of €16 million, with the balance being raised by fundraising and the sale of the Cork charity’s five-acre site on Wellington Road, incorporating the hospital and hospice.
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(Source: IT)