Carriglea Community Project Group would like to welcome you to The Woodland Walk.
The Group was set up for the purposes of developing the infrastructure and facilities on the grounds of Carriglea Cairde Services CCS which are currently not utilised by the Service. CCS is a Non Governmental Organisation which provides day, respite and residential services for people with Intellectual Disability. Initially all the services were provided in a rural setting on the grounds of a historical Big House. Over the years most of the services have moved off site, leaving a large garden and woodland area which was not fully utilised. We set up a community group to look at ways of maintaining the grounds and making them into a recreational space for members of the local community. This space we took over includes approximately seven acres of ground which includes flower and vegetable gardens, a woodland area, horticultural tunnels and some buildings. The gardens were previously used as an amenity for the Residents/service users of Carriglea Cairde Services and the horticultural areas were used to provide produce for the service and to provide a daily activity programme for the service users.
We are very happy to welcome members of the public to Carriglea Woodland Walk and please remember that the grounds also include people's homes, so it is very important to stay within allocated areas and follow the sings.
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We welcome volunteers to help with gardening and anyone willing to help can contact us directly to arrange.
Interested in an allotment? Contact us.
Our Butterfly Garden is an area under re-development at the moment, and all help is welcomed for gardening and donation of plants. Contact us if you can help.
Here at Colligan Woodland walk, we continually work to ensure that all our visitors, whatever their ability, can gain the most from their visit and have the best possible access to our facilities and services.
The Woodland and gardens open to the public cover approximately 4 acres of ground. The main paths are fully accessible for wheelchairs and buggies, but due to the nature of the facility, Some areas are not fully accessible.
Odells Grave and the Butterfly garden are unfortunately not easily accessible to everyone.
The surface of the pathways to these areas is somewhat rough. For this reason and your safety, we kindly ask wheelchair users and those of unstable footing to refrain from entering these areas.
The Odells were extensive land owners in county Waterford with over 3000 acres of land stretching from Carriglea to Ardmore. Their family vault is in Ardmore. John Odell built the house in Carriglea after his wedding in 1827. The house was built in the style know as ‘New English’ with the stone sourced from a local quarry. The house passed to John’s brother Edward in 1847 and to Edward’s son Edward in 1869. He married Lady Selena Elizabeth Hastings from Cloncoskeran House Dungarvan. Sadly Edward died in 1879 and Elizabeth returned to her home. Their son only 9 years old inherited the estate which was then put up for sale and remained empty until it was purchased by the Sisters of Bon Sauvuer. Edward was buried in the grounds of Carriglea and such was his devotion to his beloved horse “Little Harry” that he is buried with his horse.
Carriglea Woodland Walk welcomes visits from schools and other groups. Suitable for all age groups, and with fun outdoor activities focused on nature study, Carriglea Woodland Walk is perfect for children and adults alike. Group tours must arranged prior to visit. Contact Margaret Browne by telephone on 086 7783855.
The congregation of the Sisters of the Bon Sauveur was founded over 270 years ago in Caen, France. In 1732 Ann Le Roy and Margaret Lecouvreur founded the order. They began by visiting the sick in their own homes and teaching small groups of poor children. In 1889 two sisters (one of whom was Irish,) came from the mother housein Caen, Normandy to Ireland to seek a premises to start a foundation.
In 1903 Bishop Sheehan of Waterford and Lismore invited the sisters to open a community in his diocese. In 1904 the Mount Odell demesne was purchased and the sisters established a convent and private psychiatric hospital in Carriglea, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. During the 1970s Carriglea was developed from a psychiatric hospital to a Centre to provide facilities for adults with intellectual disabilities 'Bon Sauveurs Services'. Funding was secured from the Department of Health and the first service users with intellectual disabilities came to live in Carriglea. The first residents (all female) were from many parts of the country. More recently admissions were mainly confined to people from the West Waterford area and the Services later extended to provide for males. During the 1970s and '80 new buildings were constructed for day and residential services at Carriglea, while the first community based houses opened in Dungarvan town in the 1980s.Froml990s onwards saw the expansion of community services with the development of more houses and the Anne Le Roy Centre, with some further development son going in Carriglea. Further development of new buildings and improvements to existing buildings are ongoing.
A small community of the Bon Sauveur Sisters remains at Carriglea. The order is now called The Missionary Sisters of the Gospel.
We would like to thank the Woodhouse Wind Farm Community Fund for their contribution of €1,000, we were one of 13 projects to receive funding from Woodhouse Windfarm Ltd, which is a subsidiary of ESB.
