“The right to a good standard of facilities and conditions which serve to support all individuals"

Aras Attracta stands on the grounds of the old Brabazon Estate, Swinford. The land was donated sometime after 1974 to the Western Health Board by The Sisters of Mercy who had used Brabazon House as a Domestic Economy training school. Mother Clare Nugent of the Sisters of Mercy would only give the estate to someone who would help the marginalised. Unfortunately, Mother Clare would never see Aras Attracta completed. In 1993, Sister Attracta Shields attended a graduation ceremony in Aras Attracta and said "We are both proud and happy that the site we once owned is now giving such a wonderful service to so many people in need and we congratulate the Western Health Board for this wonderful development". Aras Attracta is named after Saint Attracta who is the patron saint of the diocese of Achonry. She is believed to have lived in parts of the 5th and 6th Centuries and founded convents in Sligo and Roscommon.The hospice which she established near Lough Gara in Sligo is said to have endured for One thousand years.

Great commitment was demonstrated in the persuit of the provision of a village type complex by the Western Health Board. The project commenced on the 3rd of March 1983 and was completed within its £10 million budget on the 20th of May 1985. The service was planned as a suburban extension to the town of Swinford.

It was a further 2 years before the centre received the commitment for funding to open the service. The general concept of the Centre is that it will be open to the community and to the relatives and friends of the residents. No walls separate the grounds from the town and only garden fences provide a safe internal core where freedom with security can be ensured.

The centre has a total floor area of 14,345 sq metres made up of 29 buildings, varying in size from 200 to 4000 sq metres is on a 13 hectare site. The other facilities on the site were designed to enhance the quality of life; to provide the possibility of varied experience of recreation, training and work; and medical and physical assessment of both the residents and those who would attend on a daily basis.

The first service users came to live in Aras Attracta just before Christmas 1988, many were natives of Mayo and returned west to be nearer family.