The new building of Cope Galway is a former Magdalene Laundry Galway’s former Magdalene laundry is to be converted to a service to help women and children who have experienced domestic abuse.
Renamed ‘ModhEile’ – ‘another way’ – in the hope that it will inspire women suffering from domestic abuse to find a way to rebuild their lives and create a better future for their families, the former Mercy Sisters convent is being converted at a cost of €4 million, of which 75% has already been raised.
The sisters offered the convent building, home to a laundry from 1870 to 1984, to COPE Galway five years ago after the charity had spent several years searching for a new facility for their domestic abuse service. The Waterside House building which currently houses the service is too small to cope with demand; last year 258 women sought refuge there with 441 children.
COPE Galway has launched a booklet, ‘Remember, Respect and Record’, to commemorate the stories of women who worked in the laundry.