Calleary turns the sod on historic Mayo Abbey redevelopment
Minister Dara Calleary turns the sod on €7.4 million major redevelopment of the Ballintubber Abbey Culture and Heritage Visitor Centre
Mayo TD Minister Dara Calleary turned the sod on a €7.4 million major redevelopment of the Ballintubber Abbey Culture and Heritage Visitor Centre.
The Ballina-based Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht turned the sod on the redevelopment which includes the restoration of the east wing of the 800-year-old Abbey and a new three-floor visitor and heritage attraction.
The project received over €6.4 million under his Department’s Rural Regeneration and Development Fund and also received €350,000 from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, along with matching totalling €712,139 provided by Mayo County Council and Ballintubber Abbey Trust.
The historically significant abbey’s east wing will be transformed with conservation works to the chapter house and cloister while the three-floor cultural and heritage visitor attraction to tell the story and history of the Abbey and the Abbeys of Ireland.
The East Wing was traditionally the part of the abbey where guests were greeted on arrival and entertained. The new wing will provide exhibition spaces at three levels, the upper two accessed from a new lift and stairs, with a separate entrance to the ground floor space from an original doorway at the southern end of the cloister.
The historic masonry will be left unaltered, all original openings will be re-used and expressed, new windows and doors carefully placed within the opening without interfering with the remaining archaeological features. Internally, the upstanding walls will be retained as found, so that the original forms and uses can be interpreted by the visitor.
A new timber portal frame, whose arched design reflects the shape of the groins in the abbey church, is inserted into the shell of the ruined east wing and supports two intermediate floors, as well as the new pitched slate roof.
Speaking at the sod turning today, Minister Calleary said: “This project will see the restoration and regeneration of Ballintubber Abbey, an architecturally significant complex that has played a significant role in the local community over the centuries, to create a new state-of-the-art three-story Culture and Heritage Visitor Centre.
“The Ballintubber Abbey Culture and Heritage Visitor Centre project is a perfect example of what the RRDF is all about, supporting the vision of the community to create opportunities for economic and social vitality within rural Ireland.”
The project will encompass a modern Visitor Interpretative and Interactive Learning Centre, including gallery and exhibition spaces.
Minister Calleary added: “Strategic capital investment under the RRDF is helping unlock the enormous potential in rural Ireland, supporting regeneration and, in doing so, making places like Ballintubber better places to live, work, invest and visit.
“I look forward to following the project’s progress with interest and will be excited to see the Ballintubber Abbey Culture and Heritage Visitor Centre being enjoyed by visitors, both local and from further afield, for many generations to come.”
Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Seán Carey added: “This is a place where history lives on every day not just in books alone, but in stone, in tradition, and in the lived experience of the people who have gathered here generation after generation to pray, reflect and remember.
“The development of the Ballintubber Abbey Culture and Heritage Visitor Centre honours that legacy. It represents a step into the future, but one that recognises the importance of preserving our heritage and ensuring it is alive and well for future generations.”
Chief Executive of Mayo County Council, Kevin Kelly stated: “This is a project that represents a significant investment in Mayo’s cultural infrastructure and tourism offering.
“It is a carefully planned and technically complex development that brings together a number of strands that needed to be threaded together including conservation, forward thinking design, thoughtfulness for the past and a modern visitor experience in a highly sensitive heritage setting.”
Minister for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, also welcomed the sod turning, saying: “I’d like to pay tribute to everyone involved in bringing this exciting project to this stage, and I’m delighted to be able to support it with €350,000 in funding from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. The built and archaeological heritage at Ballintubber Abbey and in the wider region is hugely valuable, and I am pleased that this project will help to ensure its continued protection, conservation and preservation.”