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23 Oct 2025
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23 Oct 2025
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On the day a booklet on the history of the Augustinian Order in the town was distributed to the community members gathered.
This has been produced by Joe Kennedy and the members of Callan Heritage Society and tells the story of the Augustinian Order’s links with the town, going back to 1471 when the Abbey was completed.
Chairman of Kilkenny County Council, Cllr Michael Doyle, thanked the Augustinians and the people of Callan for maintaining the building in the past and allowing everyone to enjoy it for years to come.
Cllr Deirdre Cullen, chairperson of Callan Thomastown Municipal District, said that thanks to the generosity of the Augustinian Order the friary complex is now the responsibility of Kilkenny County Council, to preserve for everyone and ensure it is used for the community.
She said the council will not be found wanting in delivering a high quality, public space in the friary in the coming years.
Callan, Cllr Cullen said, is a truly inclusive community and facilities in the friary building will be accessible and inclusive.
The Augustinian Order have given the council an opportunity to renovate the historic building and reinvigorate the town centre, and for that she thanked them, while also thanking the Friary Trust and all who played a key part in keeping the complex going in recent years.
A church was built on the current site, on Mill Street, in the early 1800s. It served both as a place of worship and a centre of education, with a school and novitiate in the building during that century.
As the booklet says, the early 2000s marked ‘the end and a new beginning’ for the friary. The Augustinian Provincial Council made the decision to withdraw from Callan and the building was left in the care of the Friary Trust Ltd. A child care centre was based in the building, from 2007.
In 2021 Kilkenny County Council funding was committed to the project by the Department of Rural and Community Affairs and plans are currently being drawn up to transform the building into a library and community facility for the town. Click NEXT for more photographs.
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