The announcement of plans for a new Law building was the latest bit of momentum behind the University of Galway’s ‘Nun’s Island Masterplan’-but what exactly is this masterplan, and why has it been in limbo for so long?
Expansion to Nun’s Island
First announced in 2018, the development plan saw the university’s Buildings & Estates department shift their gaze south of the Quadrangle – a change from previous development excursions into Daingean.
Their newest conquest is Nun’s Island; a historic part of town named on maps of the city as far back as the mid-17th century.
Instead of slowly creeping further away from the city centre (concerningly, in the direction of Mayo), Nun’s Island serves as a natural middle ground for development – an ideal place to blur the border between the campus and the city.
Sandwiched between the roaring Corrib and the more easy-going Eglinton canal, the island has been home to nuns, millers, and even criminals at the site of the old Galway Gaol. From University of Galway’s perspective, it’s an ideal place to drop some budding barristers, with the 19th century limestone buildings grounding lecturers with reminders of their youth.
Development rooted in history
Perhaps its historical proximity to the justice system was the motivation for the Buildings & Estates department to buy the McLaughlin building, a disused mill at the back of the cathedral’s car park, and use it for the new headquarters of the School of Law. Although the gaol has seen far fewer criminals since it was converted into Galway Cathedral in 1958.
Built in 1810, the McLaughlin building saw renovations in the 80s in order to function as a headquarters of the engineering school, until they were moved safely further away from town to the Alice Perry building.
Raising the height of the protected building to seven stories by demolishing the roof, the plans illustrate a fairly formulaic idea for a campus building – learning spaces, administrative offices, and of course a café, which will likely flirt with the concept of affordability but ultimately leave it stood solo at the bar.
Though it’s been in the planning for nearly ten years, the Nun’s Island plan is naturally facing numerous challenges and setbacks– the most ironic of which is a ripple from a local secondary school’s own trials and tribulations.
Wrench in the works
Though St Joseph’s Patrician College (or as all reasonable people call it, the Bish) have been planning a new building for the guts of 20 years, their latest application to the Department of Education in early February was deemed a low priority for funding.
Unsurprisingly, students, staff and management disagree with this verdict – the school is currently over-subscribed by roughly 300 students and lacks a number of crucial facilities as a result of the claustrophobic nature of the site.
Until the current building is vacated, the amount of change that can actually happen on Nun’s island is greatly limited – whether it’s demolished or repurposed, it occupies a considerable acreage on an island with limited space.
The school therefore becomes a Schrodinger’s cat for any plans – it may or may not be there, but the nature of bureaucracy in Ireland means we can’t look inside the box.
Ironically, the Bish has received planning permission for a new site in Daingean, which sees the school and UG in agreement with one another, trading development locations. However, until The Bish receives their funding, the two institutions might as well be at war.
As with all large-scale projects in Ireland, the chances of the Nun’s Island plan going ahead depends on the long and arduous planning process, as well as a number of other squabbles being resolved. However, with the promise of fewer law students in the concourse, I’m sure popularity won’t be an issue.
My name is Finnian, and I'm one half of this year's News and Current Affairs subeditor team. I'm a final year Journalism student and Galway native, and have been a part of SIN for 3 years