THE WIDOW of a former British Royal Navy commander left €305,353 to a Tipperary hospital trust in her will, it emerged last night.
Alice Gloster, who was a native of Busherstown, Moneygall, Co Tipperary, left a third of her residual estate to the Friends of Nenagh Hospital group in what is believed to be one of the largest private donations to a hospital charity in Ireland.
According to her will, she left the donation in "grateful recognition and thanks for all the nursing care provide to me by the staff of the hospital during my illness."
Mrs Gloster, nee Minchin, died in 2002 just months short of her 100th birthday. Her first husband was Commander Henry Minchin (better known as Harry) who fought in both World Wars and died in 1953. They lived at Annagh, Coolbawn in north Tipperary. Mrs Minchin later married Vivian St Clair Gloster.
The Minchin family did not reveal the donation to Nenagh hospital fearing it would be absorbed into the Health Service Executive's current budget and not used as she had wished.
Nenagh general is among the hospitals earmarked for downgrading of services in the move towards centres of excellence.
The Friends of Nenagh Hospital are keeping the money on deposit until a decision is made by the group on how to allocate the funds.
"I think this sends out an important message," said Mrs Gloster's representative Denis Minchin. "Despite all the hype and negativity surrounding the hospitals at the moment, the people who use the services are determined that the hospital is not going to be watered down into a glorified nursing home," he said.
Part of the difficulty in deciding how the money should be spent is whether or not new equipment can be sufficiently staffed by the HSE. Nenagh hospital purchased a new CT scanner last May, but it remains idle as no one can be employed to run it.
"It would be a travesty if Alice's gift was swallowed up and used to fund something that should be funded by the HSE. This should be used for something that is a permanent and lasting memorial to Alice's fantastic generosity," he said. Mrs Gloster worked in various hospitals in Northern Ireland during the second World War, looking after sick and injured soldiers.
Her only son Billy, a member of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, died in a motorbike accident in 1956 and one of her uncles died in the first attempt to fly east-west across the Atlantic in 1927. She had four stepsons, Brian and Miles Minchin and Dermot and Malcolm Gloster.
She left a number of other charitable legacies including contributions to St Mary's Church of Ireland, Nenagh, St Flannan's Cathedral, Killaloe and St Mary's Cathedral, Limerick.
Paul Malone, former chairman of the Friends of Nenagh Hospital, said her kindness was "enormously appreciated," by the charity. "She was a great admirer and supporter of the hospital and she intended this as a mark of her appreciation for the treatment she received, and there is no better way she could have done that. We are very grateful."