AN application has been lodged to extend planning permission for a mixed development at Skibbereen’s derelict Convent of Mercy.

Planning was originally granted in 2021 to Remcoll Ltd following an appeal, but the permission expired after five years.

Cork County Council has now received an application to extend the approval for the scheme at the historic site for another five years, submitted by Gearoid Hayes on behalf of Thor Hammer Ltd.

This latest announcement has been welcomed by residents and community groups.

‘Everybody in Skibbereen would love to see the former convent developed,’ said John O’Neill, chairperson of Skibbereen and District Historical Society.

‘It’s good to know that there’s some development at least, because right now it’s an eyesore to look at. In an ideal world, I would like to see the convent chapel turned into a museum showing the nuns’ work and the work of other community organisations.’

The plans include the renovation and alteration of the protected convent chapel for commercial and community use.

Thor Hammer Ltd also intends to renovate the former Convent of Mercy and convert it into seven apartments with a community space.

The former Mercy Heights School is earmarked for four new office units, and a new four-storey block with 52 apartments alongside six terraced houses is also part of the plans.

Last autumn, the community called for development of the former convent and school, for many years left to the forces of nature.

The convent closed its doors in 2003, with the building sold for development alongside the adjacent Mercy Heights School.

A 2020 arson attack caused extensive damage and destroyed the chapel roof.

The landmark building dates back to 1860, when the first Sisters of Mercy arrived from Kinsale to take up residence there.

A chapel was added later by architects EW Pugin and GC Ashlin. By 1889 the nuns had introduced hand-loom linen weaving for local girls, with more than 20 looms soon producing cloth that won prizes abroad, even featuring at the World’s Fair in Chicago.

More recently, architecture graduate Maryam Ewis from Midleton won an IDI Graduate Award for her imaginative plans to convert the fire-damaged convent and chapel building into a museum dedicated to linen craft, called The Repository of Linen.