Cultural centre for Comhaltas

AN east Clare community is set to benefit from a Sisters of Mercy response to the fall-out from the Ryan report.

Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann (CCE) has confirmed the order is to donate a convent and primary school buildings in Tulla to allow CCE develop a cultural centre for the area.

Tulla Comhaltas cultural chairperson Breda McNamara said yesterday the site was recently valued at €365,000.

She said: “The Sisters of Mercy have contributed so much to education and community in Tulla over the past 100 years and this donation is a final piece of goodwill that will be very, very, helpful to us in continuing the great work the order has done in education and community in the area.”

Comhaltas’s ambitious plans for the unoccupied convent building include a performance auditorium with seating for 250 persons; an audio and visual archive collection of the musical, cultural and sporting history of Tulla and east Clare and an education centre suitable for musical and cultural exchanges.

Ms McNamara said that “the Sisters disposing of the lands in response to the Ryan report coincides with Comhaltas looking for a Teach Ceoil in Tulla, so we are very lucky to benefit”.

Parish priest for Tulla, Fr Martin O’Brien said the new centre will act as a focal point in celebrating the rich musical heritage of east Clare.

Ms McNamara said, however, “there is a long road to travel” in putting the centre in place.