Taoiseach to open centre dedicated to Rice
The centre, on the historic Mount Sion site at Barrack Street in Waterford, looks set to become one of the country’s premier ecclesiastical and heritage tourism sites.
This significant refurbishment was the first at the site since the beatification of Blessed Edmund by Pope John Paul II in 1996.
A host of events are planned for the days leading up to the official opening. They include a one-man play, Edmund Rice, written and performed by Br Dan Casey, and a lecture on Edmund Rice at Mount Sion’s primary school hall by international author and historian, Dr Daire Keogh, on Wednesday, February 6.
Tickets are on sale at €5 and are available at Mount Sion or by calling 051-874390. Proceeds will go to Mount Sion Primary School.
Following the official opening on Friday, February 8, a gala concert will be held at the Theatre Royal. Tickets are also on sale at €15 from the Theatre Royal.
The remains of the Founder of the Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers rest at Mount Sion and it is the principal site for the veneration of his relics. It is also where Rice established his first community and school in 1802.
The new Edmund Rice Chapel with the founder’s tomb as a centrepiece is nearing completion.
The new heritage centre will allow visitors to ‘live the Edmund Rice story’ though an atmospheric and interactive museum.
Yorkshire-based museum consultants, Janvs, have been working on the centre which is housed in some of the period buildings at Mount Sion, including the former chapel and band room.
The new centre charts the history and global missionary outreach of the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers over the past 200 years. The museum will also reflect the social changes in Ireland since the beginning of the 19th century and will showcase some of the developments and changes in the life and work of the Brothers and of the Edmund Rice Network.
