A FORMER convent that trained hundreds of nuns for the African missions has been defaced by vandals.Killeshandra Convent in Cavan was opened in 1925 on the grounds of an old Anglo-Irish house.
For decades, it was the training ground for the Holy Rosary Sisters. At its peak, the order was the State's largest missionary congregation for women.
But now the convent lies derelict -- with holes kicked in its interior walls by vandals and offensive slogans sprayed on them.
These include "Jesus crib f**k you", as well as the word "c**t" inside the convent's ruined church.
Part of the convent has been destroyed by fire and almost all the glass windows have been smashed.
The convent was shut down in 1985 due to the declining number of vocations and the high cost of maintaining it. It was sold, along with farmland, to Lakeland Dairies co-op.
Former schoolteacher Tomas O Raghallaigh, a member of the heritage committee of Killeshandra Community Council, expressed regret that the convent was so badly vandalised.
"It was a beautiful building and a beautiful site, with manicured lawns and vegetable gardens," he said.
Mr O Raghallaigh said there was not much hope in the community of the convent being restored or redeveloped due to its enormous size.
"We've a very small community and that would be a massive job," he said.
The Holy Rosary Sisters, who currently have 400 members, still visit the convent to pay their respects to the deceased nuns buried in the adjoining cemetery, which has been well maintained by Lakeland Dairies.
A spokeswoman for the order said that, even though the convent was now empty, the nuns took heart from the fact that those who were trained in the convent had left a lasting legacy abroad.
A Lakeland Dairies spokesman said: "We have always been committed to working with the local authority and the gardai in terms of minimising antisocial behaviour."
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