A former Magdalene laundry in Cork was the subject of a suspected arson attack yesterday, when it was gutted by fire during an early morning blaze.
Five units of Cork City Fire Brigade were deployed to battle the fire at the former Good Shepherd Convent at Sunday's Well at around 5.30 a.m., which left a blanket of smoke over the northside of the city.
No one was in the building, which has been derelict for some years. However, a number of houses were evacuated in the Blarney Street area as a precaution. The fire lasted for over four hours.
Built in 1881, the listed building was the site of an orphanage and one of Ireland's infamous Magdalene laundries until the late 1970s, after 103 years in operation.
It was also synonymous with the unofficial patron saint of Cork, Little Nellie of the Holy God, who died from TB of the spine in 1908.
Originally from Waterford, the orphan developed the disease when she was four years of age and was described by Pope Pius X as a "little saint" for the way she bore her illness. The room, in which she spent most of her life, the chapel and a good portion of the building were gutted in the blaze.
In recent years the Good Shepherd building was purchased by a Cork property developer, who had previously lodged plans for a €20 million, 339-student apartment development. However, permission was only granted for one third of the application after local community objections.
Gardaí launched an investigation into the fire and were conducting a technical examination of the scene. "The area has been the subject of a lot of vandalism in recent times, with a lot of broken windows and damage carried out to the building. It is certainly a possibility that this fire could have been started maliciously," a fire officer, Mr Adrian Spillett, said.