Help us to Buy a New Retreat Centre!
Help us to Buy a New Retreat Centre!
The DBC is currently without a reliable venue for our retreats!
Sandville House, the Dublin Buddhist Centre’s usual rented retreat location, has permanently closed during the lockdown. And Mucklagh in Co. Wicklow is on severely reduced capacity of only 11 people.
We have been looking for a new retreat centre venue, and happily an exceptionally well-priced venue has come available, with lots of potential and to be excited about!
DBC Retreats
We have been running retreats for almost 30 years.
They have always been a central part of our culture of Dharma training, where we can give people a taste of real spiritual friendship, the culture of Triratna, the system of Dharma unfolded by Sangharakshita, and the taste of freedom which meditation and the Dharma can bring.
It is from retreats that Sangha members in Ireland tend to express a deeper commitment to their practice – becoming mitras and asking for ordination.
So it’s particularly important that we have a good retreat centre! Especially as travelling to the UK for retreats can be a lot to ask of people.
Our retreats have historically been very well supported and attended – for example, in 2018 our retreats were 90% full on average over the full year, and in 2019 they were 87% full on average. Irish people love retreats!
When we moved from a rented property to owning the current DBC property in 2008, it had a hugely beneficial effect on the Sangha. We suspect owning our own retreat centre will allow us to put our roots down in a much deeper way than was previously possible, and that a retreat centre we own will truly be our home from home.
Introducing Ballycorrigan
Sangashura is a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order and runs the Killaloe Buddhist Group in Co. Tipperary. He has been renting this house in Ballycorrigan, just outside of Killaloe, for many years now.
Under normal traffic conditions, this is approximately a two-hour drive from Dublin (much the same as our Sandville House) and just 10 minutes from the local Triratna group in Killaloe. It is quite a central location for Sangha members from around Ireland to use.
The local town, Killaloe, is a beautiful and scenic town, situated on the River Shannon and Lough Derg and surrounded by the rolling Slieve Bernagh mountains. The historic town is noted for its classical music festivals and is a popular residence for members of the Irish Chamber Orchestra and other artists, as well as international rugby players!
The house has three bedrooms, two living rooms, a kitchen space, conservatory, and lots of outbuilding and set upon 3.5 acres of land. Recently, the owners let us know that they would be happy to conduct a quick sale with us for €250,000. And we are keen to purchase it!
Since then, we’ve been investigating whether or not it is possible for us to purchase the property.
A team of us, led by Jyotika, have been looking at how we could convert the property into a retreat centre. Dayananda has been organising site inspections, Jyotika has been coordinating with builders, and Vajrashura has been organising how we might finance the whole thing.
The Plan
Our Plan for the property is to develop the venue over the next 21 months into a retreat centre that can hold 25 people. This would involve a lot of work! In the first six months or so we will be doing the following work:
• House brought to Fire Certificate Standard.
• Repairing subsidence to one end of the house.
• Garage converted to a temporary shrine room.
• Wastewater / sewage upgraded and expanded.
• A cabin or caravan installed for Sanghashura, who will continue to live on the property.
• Building two outdoor compost toilets and sheds.
• Converting three bedrooms into dormitories for retreatants.
• Converting two living rooms into additional dormitories.
• Conservatory upgraded internally to function as a lounge area.
- House brought to Fire Certificate Standard.
- Repairing subsidence to one end of the house.
- Garage converted to a temporary shrine room.
- Wastewater / sewage upgraded and expanded.
- A cabin or caravan installed for Sanghashura, who will continue to live on the property.
- Building two outdoor compost toilets and sheds.
- Converting three bedrooms into dormitories for retreatants.
- Converting two living rooms into additional dormitories.
- Conservatory upgraded internally to function as a lounge area.
Once this is done, we can then run retreats for 15 people – we are hoping this will be ready by September 2022. The next phase of work will then do the following:
• Demolishing and rebuilding the first set of barns into: a purpose-built shrine room, a toilet and shower block, and three bedrooms.
• Converting phase 1 shrine room in the garage to a lounge and meeting room.
• Converting the conservatory from a lounge into an additional space for dining.
• Installing a solitary retreat cabin.
• Landscaping of grounds.
- Demolishing and rebuilding the first set of barns into: a purpose-built shrine room, a toilet and shower block, and three bedrooms.
- Converting phase 1 shrine room in the garage to a lounge and meeting room.
- Converting the conservatory from a lounge into an additional space for dining.
- Installing a solitary retreat cabin.
- Landscaping of grounds.
This will allow us to run retreats for approximately 25 people, and we hope this to be finished in autumn 2023.
And there are a further set of barns that could be converted into further accommodation or an even larger shrine room in a few years time, once we have drawn breath after this project!
The Maths…
So how much will all this cost? Our calculations show that it’s likely to cost around €560,000, which might seem a lot but is very achievable.
We’re very confident that the DBC is in good financial health and can raise this money, both from loans and fundraising.
Here’s a diagram of how we are planing to raise this money:
So you can see that the largest part of the money is from Windhorse Trust, who we are applying to for a loan of €300,000. They are a Triratna institution who specialise in lending money for excellent ventures in Triratna such as this one. However, for them to give us this money, we need to be able to guarantee the loan.
Here’s where you come in
As part of how Windhorse Trust lends money, We need to have a ‘circle of guarantors’ to guarantee the loan. So we need 25 people or so to each guarantee €12,000 of the loan.
Each guarantor will sign an agreement with Windhorse Trust that they are in a position to guarantee a €12,000 portion of the loan, for the course of the ten years on the loan. The agreement is usually done on a short contract with Windhorse Trust.
This is the next step we need to make this retreat centre happen. So we need your help!
Would you be able to do this? Could you be a guarantor for the loan and help us to purchase the property?
If so, please contact Vajrashura to help this project to happen!
Note that we’re not asking for donations from people just yet, our fundraise will be launched later this spring.
Some more pictures
Here’s some more pictures of this project to whet your appetite!
