New Buddhist Temple at Dzochen Beara, Co. Cork

Ireland’s first Tibetan temple is being built on the grounds of Dzogchen Beara, a Buddhist meditation centre – located between Castletownbere and Allihies – that has been attracting people to the Beara Peninsula for almost 35 years.  The temple is being built to ‘a monumental standard’, which means it is being designed to stand the test of time and last for hundreds of years. The three-storey structure will be crowned with copper roofs and external decoration typical of a Tibetan Temple. Some striking traditional features are already complete, such as the moulded surrounds for the windows and a slight taper in the plaster of the external walls. The sacred decorations for the roofs and balconies will be made from gilded copper and these are already being worked on by skilled artisans in Himachal Pradesh, India. Works have been on-going over a phased construction and are due to be complete in 2020.