In June 1996, two years before Northern Ireland’s Peace Process of April 1998, missioned by their respective Congregations, Mary Daly RSM and Maura Twohig PBVM collaborated in setting up the Tara Centre “… in the service of healing, peace and holistic wellbeing” in Omagh town, Co. Tyrone.

Tara Centre

Their founding vision for the Centre arose out of a holistic world view which cherishes a sense of the sacred in all life and which promotes a way of living whereby diversity can be experienced as potential enrichment and pain can be engaged with as the raw material of deep personal transformation.

Acutely aware of the intense suffering throughout society here in Northern Ireland in those pre-Good Friday days, and keen to make a difference, there was a strong focus on addressing not only the symptoms of that pain but also its root causes with a view to affecting a deep and lasting transformation of society

Throughout the past 30 years, practical expression has been given to the aspirations of this Vision by developing and delivering a multi-disciplinary range of healing and life-enhancing initiatives to the community.

Testimonials abound to the fact that at the Tara Centre people often find a new direction for their lives. They come in touch with inner resources and discover that there are others who share their values about life and its meaning, thus finding inspiration in a communal quest. They come to know that healing and transcending life’s pain and trauma brings them home to the sanctuary of their soul, that poral through which we all gain entry to an awareness of our life’s purpose and its gift of deep healing and inner peace.

The Centre holds a sizeable written record of expressions of appreciation from persons of all ages, from all persuasions and from all walks of life, from near and far, who have availed of one or more of the “multi-disciplinary range of services” on offer at Tara down through the decades.

Rather than offering a comprehensive list of these statements, we have chosen to share a touching poem presented to one of the counsellors/psychotherapists at the Centre by a client who knew how to testify to her own personal experience of “being held” in a safe place while her soul’s journey emerged in a life-transforming manner.

When I was empty and a broken thing,
when I had lost my way and could not sing
or laugh or see how I could ever rise again
or look upon myself with dignity and self regard,
much less with real love or pride,
you sat with me and listened tirelessly
and let me be in my fragility.
But more, much more than this,
you saw in me a grace and truth and promise lost to
me.
Yes, you believed in me and helped me to a place of
safety and warmth
within the harbour of your knowing heart.
Words cannot nearly voice my gratitude ….
but they must do when heart is full of honest thanks.
Your grace is great indeed and I am very glad to have
been blessed in you.
And you are glad in turn for me
who now can sing unfaltering.

Prior to his untimely death in January 2008, poet, philosopher, spiritual guide, international author and dear friend of the Tara Centre, John O’Donohue, who had presented a one-day seminar annually at Tara for fully ten years to a capacity audience, gifted us with the following statement regarding his personal understanding of what the Centre was all about.

“The dream of peace is realised through the awakening, healing and integration
of all the dimensions of the human heart.
The Tara Centre is at the forefront of this exciting transformation.”

It is our fervent hope that as the Centre finds its way into an unknown future, John O’Donohue’s assessment of its contribution to society will continue to be realised.

Contact Details
Tara Centre
11 Holmview Terrace
Omagh
Co Tyrone
BT79 0AH

Telephone:
028 8225 0024

Email:
info@taraomagh.com

Website:
www.taraomagh.com