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Loreto House in Linsfort to close
01.02.11
by Linda McGrory
A 19th century retreat centre run by Loreto nuns in
Linsfort is to close due to falling vocations.
Loreto House on the shores of Lough Swilly is also
running at a loss and needs investment of around €2m
to make it viable.
Built by the local landlord in 1858, the house was
bought in 1928 by the Loreto sisters in Omagh, Co
Tyrone, as a holiday home for their members. It is
set in a stunning seaside location with private
beach and gardens and has operated as a centre for
peace and reconciliation for lay and religious for
the past 15 years.
The centre's director, 69-year old Sister Eveleen
Hallahan, said the primary reason for ending their
ministry in Buncrana is that they cannot meet the
personnel or financial investment needed to keep it
going.
She said to make the centre profitable, they would
have to at least double the existing retreat
capacity of eight people. A new roof and major
extension of the property including eight new
bedrooms, conference room, larger chapel and meeting
rooms was estimated at around €2m. |
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Joe Mahon chats with Sr Eveleen
Hallahan of Loreto House, Linsfort, in an episode of
UTV's Lesser Spotted Ulster. |
"We don't have any nuns
to follow me. We don't have any personnel left to
run it. The house is in need of a lot of repair at
the moment. It needs a new roof and it's running at
loss," said Sr Hallahan.
"If we were to keep it going and make it financially
viable, we were going to have to expand and to
expand was going to cost us in the region of €2m.
"And then when we looked at putting all that money
into it, down the road who was going to run it? The
average age of our nuns in Ireland at the moment is
74 and you can't expect people in their 70s to come
up and run a business.
"There are no new members coming in and there's
nobody coming after me to keep it going." Loreto
House employs two full-time paid staff, a cook and
gardener, as well as two housekeeping staff
supported by FÁS. Sr Hallahan succeeded the late Sr
Anne McDaid as director of the centre five years
ago.
Loreto headquarters in Dublin plan to put the
property on the market next December. The 2011
residential and non-residential programme including
eight-day silent retreats; prayer days for schools
and arts and crafts classes will continue as normal
until then. |
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