'A tragedy waiting to happen': Residents call for clarity in Good Shepherd site ownership

Northside residents have called for clarity around the ownership of a former convent and Magdalene laundry which has been on the derelict sites register for several years and suffered multiple fires.

The former Good Shepherd has been described as “a tragedy waiting to happen” by the chairman of the Blarney Street and Surrounding Areas Community Association.

Tom Coleman, chairman of the association, said that as the good weather continues, the risk of anti-social behaviour on the derelict site increases.

“We had multiple fires on the site last year, and as long we have good weather, there’s hardly a night goes by that you won’t see young people trespassing on the site,” he said.

“The site is extremely dangerous, and you often see young people up on what’s left of a section of the roof, and there would have to be a serious concern that this has the potential to be a tragedy waiting to happen.”

Mr Coleman said there was uncertainty as to the current status of the site, with rumours that it had been sold.

“We don’t know what to believe at this point,” he said, adding that security and safety at the site is a major concern for locals.

The Good Shepherd convent was established at Sunday’s Well in 1870 and the complex of buildings was completed in 1881, operating until 1977.

The convent also served as a Magdalene laundry, an orphanage, and an industrial school, with thousands of women and children incarcerated there over the years.

Burial records show that at least 188 women died while in the care of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Cork.

In the years after the convent closed, the building and its lands were sold for development.

In 1995, UCC bought the eight-acre site, selling it to developer Pat Hegarty, who subsequently sold it to the Frinailla group in 2011 at market peak for €20m.

It was purchased in 2016 by the group believed to be its current owners, Dundalk-based and Dublin-registered Moneda Developments Limited, reportedly for approximately €1.5m.

In December of 2017, Moneda secured planning permission with the provision that its proposal for 234 apartments at the site be reduced to 182.

The company also had to make a number of changes to their plans in the interest of the area’s visual and residential amenities.

At the time, local residents lodged more than 30 objections against the proposed development, saying that an influx of hundreds of additional residents would create traffic gridlock in the area.

Planning permission for the site expired in December of 2023.

The site has suffered several large fires over the years, including a major blaze in 2003 and another in 2012. In September of 2022, a major fire gutted the eastern block of the convent.

Since then, smaller fires have occurred regularly on the site, mostly in the summer months.

The Good Shepherd site has been on Cork City Council’s derelict sites register since February of 2019 and has an estimated current market value of €1,850,000.

Last year, several local councillors called on Cork City Council to compulsorily purchase the site, with a possible view to using it for some form of social housing.

The Echo was unsuccessful in attempts to contact Moneda Developments.

Cork City Council was asked for comment.