Inis Cealtra

Inis Cealtra, or Holy Island, lies close to the Co. Clare shore of Lough Derg, and is a highly significant monastic settlement founded in the 6th century. The tiny island contains a round tower, the ruins of several churches, high crosses and a children’s graveyard, linked by ancient pilgrim routes. The old Mountshannon Rectory on Scariff bay looks across the lake to Inis Cealtra, and has been carefully repurposed into a new exhibition and interpretation centre, telling the story of the island.

The project includes restoration of the existing Rectory (dated 1905), and the incorporation of a new extension to the rere within a sensitively devised landscape setting. It provides exhibition space, administrative offices, cafe and shop, along with a full energy and accessibility upgrade. The contemporary addition echoes the character and proportion of the Rectory building: a ‘thick-walled’ volume, like a traditional Irish tower house, it is roofed with a brick barrel vault and finished in brickwork which closely matches the original. This relationship of new to old creates an innovative sequence of movement around the Rectory. In front, the new Rectory garden sweeps down to the bay where boat trips depart for the island.

The sustainable re-use of this locally significant building provides a new centre of cultural tourism for Clare County Council and the Mountshannon community.