A new exhibition recently launched at MacDonagh Junction shopping centre last week will hopefully add to the tourist attractions already in situ in Kilkenny city, according to centre manager Donie Butler.
Speaking at the unveiling of the new exhibition detailing the history of the Workhouse Square at the shopping centre Mr Butler outlined his hopes that the new exhibition will entice visitors to the Eastern environs which he joked was often considered the poor relation to other parts of the city.
Attending the event were two Mercy sisters, Sister Pius Meehan and Sister Rose O’ Brien — the Mercy order were based at the former Kilkenny Union Workhouse during the famine times. They later relocated to the Central & County Hospital from 1875 until the present hospital was opened in 1942 which they relocated to until 1999.
Launching the heritage project Mayor Malcolm Noonan welcomed the attraction and he praised Mr Butler and his team for their efforts to keep the history of the eastern environs alive. He added that MacDonagh Junction had done much to preserve the past and he acknowledged the historical importance of the area.
Mr Butler told the audience gathered for the event that the skeletal remains that were discovered during an archaeological dig on the site prior to the centre being built, have since been returned and interred on site. He said that there would be a memorial service to remember those that were buried in mass, unmarked graves there in the near future.
