Mystery plaque left in memory of fire orphans

The horrific death of 35 orphans and one elderly lady in the St. Clare's Convent fire in 1943 has prompted a mysterious big-hearted person to leave a beautiful hardwood plaque at a shop door in the entry to Convent Court at Main Street Cavan. If was discovered by the people in the New Beginnings Shop last Wednesday morning, at the entry to the old St. Clare's Convent building wrapped in cardboard with the words from "the friends of the Cavan orphanage". Eamonn Carthy said he could not believe his eyes when he opened up the box and discovered the exquisite work of art concealed within, which featured all the names of the orphans and the elderly lady who perished in the blaze. The names are crafted into steel places and they are dispersed across the hardwood timber base, with two angels sculptured into diagonal corners. Eamonn says the person or persons who carried out their magnificent work of generosity went to a lot of pains to get all the names and addresses correct and placed sisters together on the same plates. Mr. Carthy formed a group some months ago with the task of having a fitting memorial plaque sculptured. A decision will be made shortly by the group as to where this mysterious memorial should be located. As the timber would be affected by the weather, consideration will have to be given to putting it in an enclosed area. Plans to have a marble memorial or other type of plaque by the group are still on the agenda, but the final decision as to whether this wooden tablet might suffice will be made soon. Mr. Carthy says that ideas about creating a museum in honour of the orphans have also been mooted, but his ultimate aim is to get 'An Acceptance Centre' established in the county and he is examining the possibility of locating it in Virginia. The centre will be a haven of peace and help for people who have been through the trauma of any form of abuse. There will be facilitators in the centre to afford them help and it is their intention to open such a centre in every county in Ireland. The centre's will be dedicated to the memory of the orphans. A music CD in memory of the orphans will be released in a couple of weeks and it features Kathleen Barry and was produced by John D. Donohoe from the Oisin Centre in Mullingar. Sean Galligan is another member of the group tasked with putting a fitting memorial in place to the orphans said the mysterious appearance of the wooden memorial was amazing and it is their intention to have it erected in a place where people can read it.