A €10m heritage and visitor centre which will transform the site of education pioneer Nano Nagle’s first convent has been given the green light.

An Irish religious order will unveil a €10m plan today to preserve its first convent — founded in Cork in the 18th century — and develop it as a heritage and visitor centre.

FROM the window of her bedroom in the South Presentation Convent, Sr Patricia O’Shea can see the wall of the original convent, which was built in 1777 by Nano Nagle, the founder of the order.