There is joy in a heritage filled Laois town, with the return of a four foot tall carved Catholic cross long thought demolished.
In 1992, the
Abbeyleix community was shocked when the vacated Brigidine Convent School was completely demolished and every historic bit of the 150 year old building taken away to be dumped. It had followed the demolition and removal of the infants school.
However one good samaritan working on the convent demolition quietly saved the four foot cross that stood on the roof, and now his family is handing it back to the grateful
community.
Noel Burke, a local history activist, has the honour of collecting the cross this weekend, from its safe house in
Portlaoise, with the family who minded it wishing to remain anonymous.
It is now to form part of a new display of Abbeyleix historic artifacts, in Abbeyleix Heritage House.
"When I got the call, I thought all my birthdays had come together. You couldn't put a price on what this means for Abbeyleix," he said.
He states that the Brigidine Convent secondary school opened in Abbeyleix in 1842 and ran for nearly 150 years before being closed by the Department of Education in 1990 when it amalgamated to form Heywood Community School.
"What followed next still shocks people today when they hear it. All of the convent school’s contents were sold at auction in 1992. Then came the unthinkable: the demolition of one of Abbeyleix’s finest educational institutions, leaving no trace that the Brigidine convent school had ever existed," Noel explains.
Noel Burke who has also spearheaded projects to mark the Famine graveyard Cillín babies graveyard in Abbeyleix.
"I can't understand the reason why it was knocked down. It was so quick, they didn't even bother to try and save the thousands of Blue Bangor slates. Nothing was built in its place. There was no reason for it, it doesn't bear thinking about.
"A prison sentence wouldn't go astray for whoever made the decision," he said.
He said that one worker asked to take a piece of stone as a memento but was not permitted to do so.
The local loss is compounded by the success story of Bloom HQ in nearby Mountrath, where the Brigidine order gifted their vast campus to the community and it is now restored and serving as a thriving community and business hub.
"It drives me made thinking about it," Noel admits.
The workman who saved the cross was instructed to “scrap and dispose” of it.
"Instead, this man not living in this community recognising its significance, he quietly brought the cross back to his own home for safekeeping. And there it remained, untouched and unspoken of, for more than 30 years. On Monday last (January 12), an acquaintance of the man contacted me to say that the family wanted the cross to be re-united with the Abbeyleix community. He knew of my interest in historical and local history and felt the time had come for the cross to return to the Abbeyleix community it once watched over. He invited me to take charge of it," Noel explains.
"With the formation of our new Historical Society underway, I assured him that this extraordinary piece of our heritage will be preserved and get the respect it deserves—and, in time, will take its rightful place in the Abbeyleix Heritage House Museum where it can continue to tell its story for many generations to come," he said.
He poetically describes it as "a cross that survived demolition. A cross carried away in secret to save it. A cross now coming home. A sad chapter… with a beautiful ending. A new chapter for our community".
"We are setting up the first historic society for Abbeyleix, Ballinakill and Ballyroan and we had a public meeting to a packed hall on Thursday, January 15, all because of the story of this cross. I couldn't believe it," he said.
Noel Burke said that more artifacts are coming to light which will stand side by side in the display, with thanks to the Heritage House manager.
"Our history is still out there, waiting to be found, and it belongs to all of us," he said.
Among those waiting eagerly to view it are two elderly Brigidine Sisters who taught in the convent.
"They live in Mountrath now and have been told about the cross, and they can't wait to get to the museum," he said.
The historical society is open to anyone with an interest in history in the three communities.
"A man wants to take part from New Jersey, because he has local connections. All are welcome, we are setting up our committee and I am honoured to be taking up the position of chair. I am looking forward to the future, we have loads of other projects to work on. We are doing this to save and preserve our history, and to honour our past," Noel Burke said.
