Brothers founder Rice honoured with visitor centre

THE dream to turn one of Waterford city’s most historic sites into a place of pilgrimage with a visitor centre of international standard becomes reality this Friday.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will officially open the Edmund Rice International Heritage Centre on Barrack Street’s historic Mount Sion, launching a new era for the site which saw the foundation of the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers, and where Edmund Rice died and is now at rest.

Mount Sion incorporates three interwoven strands — an international community of brothers, a visitor centre telling the story of the brothers and their founder, and a chapel which will be open to the public and houses Edmund Rice’s tomb.