Sisters of Mercy

Oh the sisters of mercy, they are not departed or gone.
They were waiting for me when I thought that I just can't go on.
And they brought me their comfort and later they brought me this song.
Oh I hope you run into them, you who've been travelling so long.

Enough vraa has vroomed back for a bit of trespass historical inquiry today! How have I never been up here before! This fine, huge edifice, now madly over grown is the Convent of the Sisters of Mercy, built in the early 1860s. The first Mother Superior was the impressively named Sister Joseph Xavier Murphy. She obviously had connections for money towards the building came from Murphy's Brewery. The Sisters of Mercy were founded in 1831 by a Dublin woman and soon became reknown for their work with the poor, sick and underprivileged. They were a teaching and nursing order.
I was just amazed at the scale of this plot - perched on high and looking down over Bantry, the central building was flanked with all sorts of additions - a chapel, school, bell tower and possibly even a farm. The Sisters here opened a school which in 1916 was teaching secular and religious education, music, drawing and domestic enconomy. They also tended the sick in the workhouse. Things have not been happy for many religious orders in the 21C as all sorts of horrible things have been revealed the grip of the church has lessened. Many buildingss have been sold or closed. I've only read good things about the Sisters here but in 2008 the vast building only contained a handful of sisters. The whole thing was valued at 8.5 million euro! In 2013 the building finally closed and the three elderly nuns were moved to Casa Maria elsewhere in Bantry. Apparently the site has been taken over by a charity and is meant to be providing 40 sheltered housing units, supposedly opening late 2014. They better get a move on. Things are decaying fast.
How it looked in its heyday
Sisters of Mercy