€7 million for redevelopment of St Louis Convent Chapel

Monaghan County Council has been awarded up to €7 million under the Town Centre First Heritage Revival Scheme (THRIVE) for the redevelopment of St Louis Convent Chapel.

The THRIVE scheme is part of the Northern and Western Regional Programme which is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union.

Following the notification by the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Mr James Browne, Monaghan County Council can now progress long-standing plans to conserve and repurpose St Louis Convent Chapel as a new creative space within the cultural landscape of Monaghan.

St Louis Convent Chapel has a simple pared-back aesthetic and embraces the Gothic Revival Style characteristic of institutional buildings in Ireland.

The funding will also deliver a flexible adaptive facility for meetings, presentations, event spaces, living lab spaces, spaces for community users including artists, start-ups and non-profit groups. The plan for the former chapel will serve to provide high quality pedestrian connectivity with Monaghan Town Centre.

THRIVE had an initial allocation of €30.7 million to support local authorities and their citizens to re-imagine town centres and to transform publicly owned vacant or derelict heritage buildings through renovation, renewal, and adaptive reuse. The funding is contingent on projects meeting certain conditions.

St Louis Convent Chapel is a unique heritage building with significant architectural and artistic qualities and has links to the cultural and economic history of Monaghan.

Director of the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, Conall McGettigan, said the THRIVE scheme would "transform town centres both aesthetically and economically."

“The Regional Assemblies’ support balanced regional development and the revitalisation of towns as outlined in our Regional Spatial and Economic Strategies."

He said the announcement is a "positive example of the use of ERDF funding to assist heritage regeneration projects in some of our counties’ key urban centres, enabling local authorities and communities to revitalise a number of landmark heritage assets all over our region."

NWRA Cathaoirleach Councillor Michéal Frain said the funding will "empower local authorities in our region to revitalise historic buildings in town centres, blending preservation with modern needs and guaranteeing these valuable sites remain useful for generations to come."

THRIVE has been co-designed by the NWRA alongside the Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Assemblies, and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to address European, national and regional policy objectives. To qualify for a THRIVE grant to renovate a heritage building, local authorities must own the building and have first engaged in public consultation to establish how residents would like to see the building renewed.