The plan for Callan Friary may take another year to be revealed.
Yesterday (Wednesday, 22nd November) the Mill Street building was officially handed over to Kilkenny County Council with a provisio in that it be used for the community, which was core to the order that established it.
The Augustinian Friars have been in the town since 1465, initially at their Abbey and then from 1766 at this new church just over the Kings River.
But dwindling numbers joining the religious grouping saw it pull out of the town at the turn of this century and since then the premises has been used by a number of groups, overseen by members of Callan Friary Trust.
In latter years, a decision was taken to hand it over to be repurposed for the good of the area and funding to get that process underway was granted in 2021.
Library, museum, educational base, cultural spot; there have been lots of suggestions as to how it should be used. The focus is now on the design and planning stage the results of which are expected by the end of 2024.
KCLR News’ Edwina Grace attended the historic handover to hear the memories people of the area have of the building and what they’d like to see in it going forward, as well as from representatives of the local authority and the Augustinian order – hear them all here;
