Renata SteffensThe former Sisters of Mercy Convent in Ballina is set to become a community centre, as a planning application was recently submitted to Mayo County Council. A decision is expected to be made by April 12.
The convent was built in 1876 and is a protected structure; it closed its doors in 2008. In 2024, the Sisters of Mercy gifted their former home to the community group Ballina Convent Regeneration CLG. The group was specially created with the intent of “restoring the landmark building as a community hub and breathing new life into the site.”
Speaking to The Irish Catholic, Vincent Lang, one of the directors of Ballina Convent Regeneration CLG, said that the Ballina Convent was built to help in the aftermath of the Famine and the history of the building “represents the very best of the Irish personality: helping, caring, performing community work, looking after the sick and the poor.”
Due to its historical importance and to honour and reflect the service and support the Sisters of Mercy gave to the people of Ballina, “when the community needed the most”, Mr Lang said, “the convent should be preserved”.
“It is important that the chapel remains a chapel because without a chapel, the convent isn’t a convent” Mr Lang said. “It is incredibly important that we retain all the personality of the building. We must keep the spirit of the Sisters of Mercy alive.”
The complex will have two residential units, “for people who may have slight disadvantages in life, physical or age-wise or health-wise.” The convent was a home for the Ballina Sisters of Mercy and “ideally it should still be lived in.”
Overall, the proposed community facilities will include counselling and therapy functions, meeting rooms, training rooms, music and art facilities, sanitary facilities, a community courtyard, the chapel, the residency units, and a new car park.
If you are, or know of people, disposing of church furniture, contact ballinaconvent@gmail.com, as they are looking for furniture for the restored Chapel.