Petition to remember victims of Cavan Orphanage Fire

Remembering the 35 victims of the Cavan Orphanage Fire is the impetus behind a campaign to get the local authority to erect a permanent memorial.

Local volunteer Lorraine Teevan says that she is seeking public support for the move: “I have over 3,000 signatures at the moment. It will be handed into the council at the next meeting.”

Last month was the 75th anniversary of the tragedy. The Sisters of the Poor Clares, an enclosed contemplative order, founded the convent in the mid-1850s on Main Street.

Between 9.30pm on February 23 and 2am on February 24, 1943, a fire broke out at the basement of the laundry. Eyewitness accounts tell of smoke billowing out of the school for some time before the fire services arrived.

Despite the tragic loss of life, some 50 others were saved that night by the quick actions of local electricity worker Mattie Hand and businessman Louis Blessing among others.

A group of people gathered to pay their respects at the memorial site on Friday, February 23. A Mass of the Angels took place at St Clare’s Chapel that morning.

The petition can be signed online at https://www.change.org/p/cavan-county-council-get-a-permanent-visible-memorial-to-the-36-victims-of-the-cavan-orphanage-fire and can also be found in local shops.