The Mercy Convent chapel in Ballina will be open throughout today on Good Friday, April 18.
People are invited to stop into the chapel at Convent Hill to pray the Stations of the Cross. A beautiful new set of stations, painted by well-known Ballina artist Trish Slowey, were added to the chapel last Christmas.
The convent, built in 1867 by the Sisters of Mercy, has lain vacant and in a state of dereliction since its closure over 15 years ago. Cllr Mark Duffy was approached by members of the Sisters of Mercy order — who once called the convent their home — encouraging a regeneration project and work on this commenced in the past year with good progress being made.
This Easter marks the first anniversary of the Sisters of Mercy gifting the former convent building to the local community. The sisters made the generous decision to gift the convent building to a newly-formed charity, Ballina Convent Regeneration CLG.
