Diocesan News08 Jul 14

St Luke’s Home Presents Final Instalment Of €1million Gift To Marymount Hospice In Cork

Visiting the St Luke’s Day Care Unit at Marymount University Hospital and Hospice recently were (l–r): David O’Brien (CEO, St Luke’s), Professor Cillian Twomey (Chairman of the Board, Marymount), Dr Paul Colton (Chairman of the Board, St Luke’s) and Dan Philpott (CEO, Marymount). (Photo: Provision)

Five years ago, when the new Marymount University Hospital and Hospice in Cork was being built on its new site at Curraheen, Co Cork, Bishop Paul Colton asked the directors of St Luke’s Home in Cork to donate €1 million to the project, and they readily agreed. The final instalment of that promised €1 million gift was paid recently. Bishop Colton, chairperson of St Luke’s, was invited by the chairperson of Marymount, Professor Cillian Twomey, to visit the St Luke’s Home Day Care Unit at the Hospice which was built using the gift from St Luke’s. Also present were the CEOs of the two charities: Mr David O’Brien, CEO, St Luke’s and Mr Dan Philpott, CEO, Marymount.

Bishop Colton, who chairs St Luke’s Boards, but is also one of the Patrons of the Friends of Marymount, said:

‘These two charities – one Roman Catholic, and the other Protestant – were founded in the same era, Marymount in 1870 and St Luke’s in 1872. For many years they worked alongside each other on opposite sides of the street at Military Hill in Cork. This gift, I believe, is a significant symbol of a new era, established over recent decades, of ecumenical cooperation and practical partnership in healthcare expertise between our two caring institutions which nowadays care for everyone regardless of background or faith perspective. Between the two, we employ about 580 people in the Cork region (300 at Marymount and 280 at St Luke’s). Last time I visited this part of Marymount it was a building site. Today it is wonderful to see the St Luke’s Day Care Unit up and running: a sign of our work together as two leading charities here in Cork and the wider region.’