Upset as chapel at secondary school vandalised in Co Mayo

THE PRINCIPAL OF a secondary school in Co Mayo said there is “sadness and disappointment” following extensive vandalism at the school’s convent and chapel.

Edmund Holmes, principal of Our Lady’s Secondary School in Belmullet, shared images of the damage in the chapel online on Friday.

“We are particularly dismayed to think that people among us could desecrate our beautiful chapel,” Holmes said.

“Religious artefacts, sacred images, stained-glass windows and furnishings have been damaged,” he wrote online in an appeal for information. Parts of the chapel were left in a “shocking state of destruction”.

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The school dates back to 1943. Religious sisters taught in the school up until 2002. It is now under the trusteeship of the Catholic Education, An Irish Schools Trust (CEIST), the trustee body for over 100 voluntary Catholic schools in Ireland.

The building is an important part of the history and heritage of Belmullet and the wider Erris community, Holmes said, and it holds special memories for generations of students, staff and religious sisters.

He appealed for anyone who may have witnessed suspicious activity in or around the school, convent or chapel in recent weeks, or has any information that might help identify those responsible, to contact the school authorities or gardaí.

“This is not simply an act of vandalism against our school. It is an attack on a place of great historical, cultural and spiritual significance to our entire community.”