Creating A Legacy for the Future
The year 2024 will go down in history as a major step for St. Paul’s Province in respect of our two Retreat Centre, Drumalis and The Briery. We’ve had Drumalis since 1935 and The Briery since 1952. In order for them to continue to thrive, major changes are necessary as the old adage goes, none of the Sisters are getting any younger! Yet this is the age of the Laity and perhaps the Lord is telling us something very important that we would miss had we had younger Sisters to follow in our footsteps.
At the beginning of last year 2023, Anne Hammersley informed the Briery Advisory Team that she would resign
in 5 years. Later whenever Susan Irwin, her community member, mentioned it, she insisted that she wasn’t ready to retire and that if Susan wanted to she could do so! Anne wanted to keep going for another 5 years but Susan, very rightly, thought it should be sooner. They weren’t getting any younger.
Towards the end of last year, Anne found out that her cancer had progressed a little more and realised that she had to resign sooner than she’d thought. In January, she told the Provincial Team that she intended to resign in September and would spend the following months preparing for lay management of The Briery and the various Retreat Teams. It was a time of great grace as Anne just knew the time was right and felt very happy and content about her decision. The plan was to move into Elmleigh Cottage, just 200 yards down the road so that she would still be able to avail of the excellent medical treatment she had received from her doctors and local hospital.
In Holy Week it was all change again as Susan was diagnosed with cancer. It was totally unbelievable that two of them, in the same community, would get it. The move to appoint a lay Manager for The Briery was now urgent and it was all steam ahead with adverts and the necessary documentation. Anne and Susan decided they would move into Elmleigh Cottage as soon as possible as they felt they needed some privacy in their illness. They will move in June but take possession from mid-May so some necessary work can be done. Applications for Retreat Manager closed on the 17th April, we pray that the Lord will have someone in mind who can take The Briery forward into its next stage.
At the end of February, Sisters Margaret Rose McSparran and Anna Hainey moved out of Drumalis after many years of service which not only saw the building of a new Retreat Wing but also a widening of the Retreat programme and Training courses. Their departure was a seismic change for Drumalis, it’s Staff and Retreatants. On the practical side, there was no provision for care of the building and retreatants overnight. There is a team of volunteers but they had come in to sleep over when one of the Sisters was away. Thankfully, a Team of Sisters, the Drumalis Support Group, organised themselves into a rota for sleepovers and key members of Staff took on the responsibility of running the Retreat Centre until a new Director was appointed.
Interviews for the Director had taken place at the end of the year but no suitable candidate had been found. 
In the New Year we tried again and thankfully appointed Brian McKee who takes up his position on 22nd April. Brian is well-known to the Sisters as he was part of the group that came up with Drumalis Mission Statement. He is a former Passionist. He left as a student and is a contemporary of Bobby Moore who was the facilitator for our General Chapter. Brian McKee never lost contact with the Passionists and has done excellent work in the area of Peace and Reconciliation in the Passionist Parish of Ardoyne and is well known in the North of Ireland and beyond. He has been doing Retreat work at the Passionist Retreat Centre, Tobar Mhuire and has also given retreats in Drumalis and served on their committees as a facilitator. He certainly has the Passionist spirit and Brian will simply say, very definitely. that he is a Passionist!
In our preparation for lay management of our two retreat centres, we are creating a legacy for the future. Age and ill health have forced us to do this but somehow God’s guiding hand is there in the middle of it. I firmly believe that if God wants our Retreat Centres to continue, they certainly will and probably do better work than we, the Sisters, could ever have imagined.
Thank you ,Anne .
That was very clear and just before I read your reflection we heard that Amanda Labbett has been appointed Manager of the Briery .
May you and Susan have many happy & peacefilled days in Elmleigh cottage .
Drumalis was bought and started retreats for young Belfast women in 1930 .