Did you go to The Bower? New book celebrates famed Athlone school

"The Bower" in Athlone was one of Ireland's best-known boarding schools, but in June 2014, the last 11 boarders sat their Leaving Certificate there.

Now, Tullamore-born Newstalk journalist Aisling O'Rourke, has produced "A Bower for Sisters", which documents the final few months of Our Lady's Bower boarding school and convent in Athlone

Established in 1884, it’s understood that when Jean Baptiste Debrabant decided to build Our Lady’s Bower Boarding School and Convent, he used the designs from his home in the south of France to save costs in this new venture.

In June 2014, the last 11 boarders sat their Leaving Certificate exams and the school shut its doors, precisely because of financial reasons: the La Sainte Union order of Roman Catholic Nuns could no longer afford to keep it running and pay for the care of an ageing population of sisters. The 130 year old facility was one of the last boarding schools to exist in Ireland.

 

Just over a year since the boarding school shut its doors, ‘A Bower For Sisters’ is being launched, giving an intimate look at the now historical Our Lady’s Bower Boarding School and Convent.

 

Former pupil and Tullamore native Aisling O' Rourke said she decided to publish this book to provide an insight into life at the Boarding School:

 

“In ‘A Bower For Sisters’, I aim to pay testament to a part of our history which is now gone, to pay tribute to the work of the La Sainte Union sisters, and in some small way ensure Our Lady’s Bower Boarding School is not forgotten in the years to come.”

 

'A Bower for Sisters' by Aisling O' Rourke will be launched by former Bower girl and well known author, adventurer and presenter Teena Gates, in The Library Project, Temple Bar, Dublin, on the 9th of December at 6pm.

 

‘A Bower For Sisters’ was designed and self-published in collaboration with Read That Image and is published in an edition of 500 hand-bound copies

Find out more about the new book at www.abowerforsisters.com and https://www.facebook.com/events/944988215590879/