The story of COPE Galway Modh Eile House
COPE Galway have operated a Domestic Abuse Service in Galway since 1981. In 2020 we moved into our new home, Modh Eile House.
We recognised in 2008 that Waterside House, our home since 1981, was no longer fit for purpose – six rooms, communal bathrooms, no cooking facilities, deteriorating conditions. It was not good enough for women and children leaving a violent home.
After a long search for a place with the potential to meet the needs of women and children – safety, security, somewhere to preserve dignity and self-respect, to promote healing and recovery, and to be a home from home, whilst they tried to gather the threads of their lives – we were gifted a former convent building in Galway City centre in 2014. Over the next six years we painstakingly went through the process of redeveloping this building, raising the necessary funds to deliver the state-of-the-art premises we have today.
The nine apartments used to provide refuge were funded through the Capital Assistance Scheme by the Department of Housing, accounting for some 60% of the overall cost of €4m – the remaining 40% was met through the generosity of the people of Galway. Our shared space and extensive gardens complete our home.