The Government has been asked to speed up the process that would see the former Gort Convent transformed into a remote working, cultural and community hub.

The convent building, located at Bridge Street in the centre of the town, dates back to the late 1700s when it was built for residential purposes before it was occupied by the Sisters of Mercy in the mid-1800s.

The matter was raised during a Dáil debate when Deputy Louis O’Hara said that there were a lot of groups in the area who would like to make use of such facilities.

He is anxious that the iconic building does not fall into a further state of disrepair and believes that, with state funding, it could be transformed into an essential facility that would benefit the whole town and surrounding areas.

The Galway East Deputy urged Minister Dara Calleary to progress an application made under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund by Galway County Council to acquire the old convent and develop design plans for its transformation.

“This application is about progressing plans to transform the convent into a remote working and cultural and community hub,” the Sinn Féin TD told the Dáil.

“This is an iconic building in the town, it’s had many uses over the years, but it has been vacant for some time now and it’s on the path to decline. There is urgency around this to secure the building and prevent it from falling into disrepair, and so it is a hugely important application for the town of Gort.

“I’d ask that the application is expedited if at all possible and approved to allow these important plans to proceed,” he added.

In response, Minister Dara Calleary acknowledged the case made by Deputy O’Hara and said that an assessment process is under way which will be completed later this year.

The Convent was originally known as Bridge House and is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in Gort. It was built. around 1770 by John Prendergast Smyth who later acquired the title Lord Gort.

He lived here until 1816 when he went to reside in the newly built Lough Cutra Castle. It was inhabited for some years by Dr W. Mulville.

From 1850 to 1852 it was used as a workhouse for local girls. On the November 5, 1857 the Sisters of Mercy came from Carlow to establish a convent there.

They used the existing building, the three-storey portion. facing the street, now a protected structure, and soon added the remainder.

The listed building has been used to house Ukrainian refugees following the departure of the Mercy Nuns in 2021 after 164 years of ministry.

Pictured: Deputy Louis O’Hara with old convent in Gort in the background.