The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
A journey of important milestones...
AS St. Mary of the Angels looks forward to celebrating its Golden Jubilee, the story of the past half century is one of progress and care in perfect concord. Central to this journey however has always been the residents and their families. The past 50 years may be a timeline of incremental change and development, but the residents and service users have always been at the core of St. Mary of the Angels and St. John of God Kerry Services’ story. This is very much the case today where St. Mary of the Angels is part and parcel of community life with its residents enjoying the full benefits of campus life while also integrating within the communities from which they come. Below is an overview of St. Mary of the Angels and St. John of God Kerry Services.
The start of community integration
During the mid-1990s the community integration model began to grow as a number of residential homes were set up in Tralee. This meant that individuals could now come and live in Tralee and attend their day service from their group homes - a practice which supported further integration within the local community.
The next decade witnessed significant developments to more community based day programmes for service users with the setting up of programmes in Castleisland in 2003, and Kenmare, Killarney and Killorglin in 2005. Breannán Service, as it was formerly known, primarily supported adult men and women with a mild to moderate intellectual disability. Today the community based model continues to thrive.
A timeline of services…
On 26th April 1968, in St. Mary of the Angels, a 60-bed residential facility for children with varying degrees of disability was opened by the Franciscan Sisters of the Divine Motherhood. This was the only such residential facility in Kerry at the time.
In 1979 the then Bishop of Kerry issued an invitation to the Order of Saint John of God to assist in the development of services for adults with an intellectual disability in the county. Brother Cornelius Leen O.H. (a Kerry native, and Brother Celsius Griffin, O.H. (a Galway native) were assigned to Kerry where they secured the use of a premises in Balloonagh, Tralee from the Sisters of Mercy enabling them to develop a workshop facility which commenced its service with approximately 20 service users.
The 1980s saw the opening of a number of additional Day and Respite Services in Kerry including the opening of the Monavalley Centre in March, 1987. This was a mammoth step towards integrating the Service and its local community. The opening of the centre in Monavalley enabled many service users to return to Kerry from other services around Ireland. Two group homes were also established during this time in Tralee, one in Westcourt, Caherslee, and the other in Racecourse Lawn, Oakpark. In addition, the St. John of God Brothers’ Community house, ‘Five Furlongs’, Tralee, also housed four service users.
The first of the satellite day services commenced in Dingle in 1995 in a property rented from Udaras Na Gaeltachta. This was later moved to its current location in Tobair Eoin where the centre was officially opened in 1988. Also in 1995, ‘Breannán Supported Employment Service’ was set up and was initially based in the Monavalley centre. A Social and Recreation programme was also put in place around this time.
In 1986 the Department of Education opened the purpose built St. Francis Special School for day pupils in Beaufort. To this day St. Francis Special School provides an excellent education to approximately 50 children who come from all over County Kerry.