The landmark Presentation Convent in Killarney is being offered for sale with an estimated price tag of €1.5 million, KillarneyToday.com can reveal.
The distinctive stone building, in the shadow of St Mary’s Cathedral and at the rear of St Brigid’s Secondary School, has been vacant since the last of the sisters vacated the premises in November 2021.
Sole selling agent, Michael Coghlan of Sherry Fitzgerald Coghlan, described it as “a once in a generation opportunity” to purchase one of Killarney’s finest residential buildings which is on a prime town centre site of 1.422 acres.
He has already received an opening offer of €1.25 million and he said there is huge interest in the property.
“A number of hoteliers and developers are looking at it and it is, without doubt, the best site in Killarney,” he told KillarneyToday.com.
“It will require a big investment but it is a really unique opportunity and it has huge potential,” Mr Coghlan stated.
With an unrivalled location in the heart of Killarney town, close to all amenities and directly opposite Killarney National Park, the three-storey convent and chapel is a protected structure and it is currently laid out with living, dining, kitchen, ancillary accommodation and 26 bedrooms.
Full planning permission has been granted for redevelopment as an assisted living property comprising seven one-bedroom apartments, six en-suite bedrooms and associated communal rooms.
The auctioneer said the building offers an unique redevelopment opportunity of a historic property in the heart of Killarney for multiple possible uses including an exclusive apartment development, educational purposes, an assisted living development, a private residence, a boutique hotel or a private wedding venue with an historic chapel already available.
The Presentation Sisters established a base in Killarney in 1793, originally on New Street, with a primary school founded in 1800.
The convent at Cathedral Place, built in 1875 and is a three-storey masonry building with an attached six-bay double height Gothic Revival style chapel to the north.
Internal features include impressive ceiling heights, original fireplaces, an original chapel with stained glass windows, an original marble altar, pitched pine pews, striking original fireplaces and an extensive original Italianite tiled floor on the main hallways and in the chapel.
There is also an 1830’s bellows organ in the chapel which predates the actual building.
The Presentation Sisters gifted the vast majority of their land on New Street to the State and the Department of Education has plans to build a new secondary school on the site of the current Sat Brigid’s facility.
Proceeds from the sale of the convent will go towards retirement costs for the nuns who served the town so well for so long.
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