Limerick Diocese puts riverside site on the market for close to €3m

LIMERICK Diocese has put a five-acre riverside site in Corbally on sale for an asking price of almost €3m.

It comes after Bishop Brendan Leahy revealed it was bringing the land to market in order to tackle a funding deficit brought about by the drop in attendance at church Mass.

Located adjacent to the Diocesan Centre and St Munchin’s School, the site is zoned for residential, meaning housing is allowed to be constructed on site.

Offers are being invited for the land, with the bidding price starting from €2.275m.

Auctioneer PJ Power, based in O’Connell Street is carrying out the sale of the land.

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As part of information to support the sale, the land is described as “primarily greenfield” and “bounded by mature woodland and the River Shannon to the north with the site bounding the main Corbally Road adjacent to the existing main entrance to St Munchin’s College.”

“The site boundaries are primarily regular in shape, with the site having extensive frontage onto both its boundary with the River Shannon and Corbally Road,” added the auctioneer.

The land is located just beside Athlunkard Bridge, which splits Limerick City from south-east Clare, with Westbury on the other side of the River Shannon.

Speaking last week, Bishop Leahy warned further land sales may be necessary in the future.

Bishop Leahy said the deficit facing the Diocese of Limerick is not sustainable in the long-term.

“The reality is that we are facing into a sustained position of a yearly deficit in our budget. While we are fortunate to have some reserves, this is not a situation that can continue indefinitely,” he warned.

The Diocese employs the equivalent of 13 full-time staff delivering a wide range of services to parishes and priests across Limerick.