Nano Nagle Place ‘a vital part of Cork city’

THE outgoing chief executive of the Nano Nagle Place has said his replacement will have firm foundations on which to build, and he believed that, for the centre, the best and bravest days are ahead.

Shane Clarke, whose term as the first CEO of Nano Nagle Place is ending, told The Echo he felt the centre, which houses a museum, heritage rooms, gardens, a gift shop and a book shop, and a restaurant, and which is home to several educational charities, has become a vital part of the city.

“In five short years Nano Nagle Place, in Cork city, has established itself as an institution dedicated to heritage, social justice, and community education,” he said.

Mr Clarke said the centre’s evolution had been sparked by the closure in June 2006 of the South Pres primary school, once home to 1,000 students.

That closure was paralleled by the whittling away of convent life, with the Presentation Sisters community – founded by Nano Nagle in 1771 – now refuge to just three remaining nuns.

“The Nagle family motto is ‘Deeds not Words’, and in this spirit the sisters committed to imagining South Pres anew,” Mr Clarke said.

“The vision was that the walled Georgian convent would both tell Nano’s remarkable story and bring to life her values of social justice and education in twenty-first century Cork.

“Nano Nagle Place was established as a charity and over the course of 2014-2016, guided by premier conservation architects JCA, two-and-a-half centuries of architecture were restored, and a new bespoke UCC/MTU School of Architecture created,” he said.

In December 2016, former President of Ireland Mary McAleese formally opened the site, which has at its heart, housed in the gothic Goldie Chapel, a museum dedicated to Nano Nagle.

The landscaped gardens and graveyards were opened to the public, and an archive focusing on the history of the congregation was established.

A new garden pavilion became the sustainable Good Day Deli café, and once again, South Pres became home to resident Sisters.

“Life began anew, with the Lantern community education project and the Cork Migrant Centre reaching out to, and celebrating the diversity of, Cork communities,” Mr Clarke said.

“The museum achieved number one ‘Thing-To-Do-in-Cork’ status on Trip Advisor, and Cork Printmakers, the East Cork Early Music Festival, and the Cork Decorative & Fine Arts society all contributed to a flourishing cultural programme.”

He said the centre had won several awards, including the Retail Excellence Visitor Store of the Year, and the RIAI Urban Design and Masterplanning award.

In December 2021 Nano Nagle Place was announced as winner of the prestigious Council of Europe Museum Prize 2022, something of which Mr Clarke remains particularly proud.

“Our pitch was that Nano Nagle Place is a site of living heritage, a sacred place home to a continuity of community over 250 years, and a values-based museum where the widest and most diverse understanding of community is welcomed and celebrated,” he said.

LIFE-AFFIRMING ROLE

In the summer of 2016, Mr Clarke moved with his family from London to Cork to become CEO of Nano Nagle Place, and he says he had not anticipated how life-affirming and all-consuming a role he had taken on.

Almost six years on, he is moving on, to establish his own urbanist consultancy, and he says he takes from Nano Nagle Place an understanding of the transformative economic impact of heritage regeneration; the life-changing reality of community-focused development; and the potential that exists in celebrating the diversity and cultures of Ireland’s communities.

“Nano Nagle Place aspires to be a home to all that’s good in Cork and a catalyst for the sustainable and equitable transformation of this remarkable Atlantic city,” he said.

In this, the new director, working with an incredibly talented team, a stellar board and with the active involvement of the Presentation Sisters, has firm foundations upon which to build partnerships to vision.

Mr Clarke said Nano Nagle Place was an exemplar in the transformation of religious heritage into community benefit, and it should inspire the reimagining of Ireland’s derelict towns and villages.

“It is clear evidence that values-based regeneration is sustainable regeneration,” he said, quoting again the Nagle family motto.

“‘Deeds not Words’! The best and bravest are yet to come.”