Last remaining property of Sisters of St Clare in Kenmare being sold

St Clare's Convent in Kenmare: Kerry County Council confirmed 'an offer has been accepted' by the nuns.

The last remaining property of the Sisters of St Clare in Kenmare, Co Kerry, is being sold to the council without ever going on the open market.

The 25-year-old convent, which sits on five acres, will be for community use in a move described as being in the true spirit of the much-loved nuns.

The order moved to the town more than 160 years ago and it was announced last February they would depart as they no longer had the numbers to maintain a presence.

The council approached the order in January after local councillor Johnny Healy-Rae "got wind" the nuns were leaving and the property would most likely be sold. Council chief executive Moira Murrell and senior official Martin O’Donoghue then entered negotiations.

"If they had wanted every last penny they could get then they could have put it on the open market," Mr Healy-Rae said on Thursday.

We are very appreciative of what the St Clare sisters did and that they dealt with the local authority. There’s great credit due to them. It is a sign of all the work they did for Kenmare down through the years and they are leaving their mark once more." 

The council has confirmed "an offer has been accepted" by the nuns.

The sale price has not been revealed but it is understood to be much less than what might be achieved on the open market. Part of the land is on a flood plane but the building and the surrounding land could have fetched a large sum, it is believed. Potential uses include a services building and much-needed town car park.

Ceremonies took place last Sunday to mark the departure of the order, which now has too few nuns to continue in Kenmare.

In fitting symbolism, seven sisters were present at the Mass, just as seven had arrived at the invitation of Archdeacon John O’Sullivan in October 1861.

The nuns first arrived to a town impoverished after the Famine and a particularly cruel landlord and agent. As well as being educators, they established a lace-making industry to help lift the Kenmare out of dire poverty.

Kenmare Lace, the needlepoint lace industry established by the nuns, took the Victorian world by storm and Britain's Queen Victoria herself had several pieces.

In a letter sent to parishioners when their departure was announced, the nuns said they would "carry Kenmare with us in our hearts and prayers always".

"As a congregation, we are sorry to be bidding you farewell and we very much hope that the legacy we leave, after 16 decades among you, will be something you continue to value as a parish and community."