Saturday, October 11, 2008

Ireland: the Legion of Christ grows?

Wicklow County Council

APPLICATIONS

Location : on a 1.2-hectare site to the south-west portion of the overall landholding (19.86 hectares) at the Dublin Oak Academy, Kilcroney House, Kilcroney Road, Co Wicklow. Proposed development: two-storey Novitiate building of 2,335sq m (25,134sq ft) and comprising of 36 bedrooms and auxiliary rooms (offices, livingrooms, diningroom, chapel, library and meeting room); the provision of an internal distribution road to serve the proposed Novitiate, to link to the existing internal access road leading from Kilcroney Road; eight car-parking spaces, associated landscaping and site development works. Applicant : Legionaries of Christ.

Read it here.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

THe current novitiate on leopardstown road was in the countryside when it was built, but is now in a prime location in dublin - which in the past decade held the most expensive innercity land prices in the world.

The leopardstown road site is very valuable, already about $40million dollars worth of it was sold in 1994, part of this was compulsary purchase for the north Dublin ring-road. I would estimate that sale to have taken just over 50% of the land the legion owned.

At the time of the sale, Kilcroney castle was bought in CO. Wicklow, this really is in the countryside south of dublin, closer to the town of Bray. The castle has some very rich neighbours. It was rumoured that U2 wanted to buy Kilcroney castle at this time but the owners - St. John of God brothers, preffered to sell it to another religious community - the Legion.

BUT as always we don't know who really bought Kilcroney Castle - is it the property of Oak International?

When I was receptionist in dublin at the time of the purchase of kilcroney castle we were instructed to tell anyone who asked on the phone that the legion has not bought Kilcroney Castle. We were told that it belonged to Oak... but we weren't allowed to say that - no mention of Oak at all. (At that time Oak academy shared the same building as the novitiate so the recpetion was for both school and novitiate).

So what's happening with the leopardstown road site? I would think that if they sold it they would have lots of money to build the new novitiate on the site they already own at kilcroney and plenty left over.

But strangely I remember reading in the belfast telegraph how a N. Irish company had secured a contract with "Vatican Architechts" to build a kindergarten school on the leopardstown road site, with aims for it to become a primary school.

What is going on?!!!