The High Court was asked yesterday to decide whether the £475,000 proceeds of the sale of the former Christian Brothers' monastery in Youghal, Co Cork, should be used to pay off some of the parish debt or for school education purposes. Mr Justice Lavan reserved his decision.
The monastery, at Marine Terrace, Youghal, was part of a trust set up in the 1830s "for the Roman Catholic parishioners of Youghal", and the rents and profits were to be used for "providing free education for the poor Roman Catholic male children" of the parish.
It was leased to the Christian Brothers when they arrived in 1857 and assigned to them "for free education of the male Roman Catholic poor" of Youghal, rent-free. The Christian Brothers left the town in 1997, and the keys were returned to the parish priest.
Over the years, the trustees have been the bishops of Cloyne and the parish priests of Youghal. The court was told it was believed the parishioners of Youghal provided the original funds to purchase the property.
In an affidavit, the parish priest of Youghal, Father St John Dean Thornhill, asked the court to hold that the money from the sale be used to pay a parish debt of £387,000.
He asked that the remainder be used for the benefit of the parish. The £387,000 relates to work carried out on a parish hall.
Father Thornhill said the needs of the primary school had been adequately met, and the parish had no responsibility for two other schools, Gaelscoil Chorain, and a school for Protestant children, the South Abbey National School.
The trustees sought the consent of the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests to apply the net proceeds of the property sale to reduce the parish debts, but this was refused and a scheme was sought based on who should get the proceeds after taking into account the original intention of the trust.
The Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests, in refusing the trustees' plan, said the trustees should retain the proceeds strictly for the educational needs of all children attending primary or secondary schools in Youghal.
Yesterday Mr Kevin Cross SC, for the Attorney General, argued that Father Thornhill's request was not the object nearest the trust's original intention, which was the "free education of male Roman Catholic poor".
The Attorney General believed inquiries had not been exhausted concerning the use of the money for education purposes, which would be an object nearer the intention of the original trust.
Mr Thomas McCann SC, for Father Thornhill, said education was now funded by the State. The money would be used primarily to pay off a debt on a local parish hall which was now used for educational purposes such as adult education and courses for those suffering from loneliness or depression.