Athlone convent for €650,000

A 4,645sq m (50,000sq ft) convent and boarding school on a seven-acre site within Athlone town centre is to be offered for sale for a €650,000 following the closure of the school.

Dublin agent GVA Donal O Buachalla is today launching a marketing campaign to sell Our Lady's Bower convent and boarding School which closed last June after 125 years because of falling numbers of boarders.

The facility had been run by the La Sainte Union order of nuns who decided to close the boarding school when pupil numbers dropped from 130 to just 60. An adjoining day school has not been affected by the closure.

The Gothic revival-style, H-shaped convent and boarding school with an imposing limestone façade was built in 1889. One of its distinctive features is its copper spire.

The original building was extended in the 1960s to provide improved dormitory facilities for the students.

The selling agents are suggesting that the complex could be used for a variety of purposes, including student housing, educational facilities, hotel and even leisure uses.

The seven-acre grounds are zoned for “community, educational and institutional” use under the Athlone Town Development Plan which runs from 2014 to 2020.

The convent site is within 1km of the town centre, off the Lower Road and close to the junction with the Dublin road.