Through the busy May Byrne Trust Club House, the dreams and hopes of a Coolgreany woman have been realised. In 1996, May Byrne left some of her property in trust to the community for a special project. Realising that the border village was possibly the only one in the country without the focal point of a church, graveyard, or community hall, she left a house and some money in trust to create a place for prayer, and a place where young people could congregate.
May Byrne was the postmistress in Coolgreany village for over forty years. Born and reared locally, she worked in Tipperary for a brief period, before returning to the village in the 1950s to take over as postmistress. She lived and worked in the house next to the building which now bears her name. The home of the new clubhouse was
owned by her family and was empty for decades.

May never married, nor did her two brothers, but she developed a deep fondness for the local children of the area, especially children of underprivileged families, and her acts of kindness to them are still remembered with fondness in the local area May is remembered as a lovely, quiet woman, who loved farming. She passed away in
1996 at the age of 84. In her will, she appointed three trustees, to whom she left the house on Main Street, so that they would do something with it for the local
community. She also left a quarter of her estate to pay for the work. However, one of the trustees had also passed on, and another wasn’t in a position to take on the work, so two new trustees were appointed including Fr. Pádraig OCochlain, who came on board as Chairperson, and Nancy Garvey to work alongside
Vera Grogan on the project.

Coolgreany is in an usual position that it is in the Dublin diocese, but its nearest church is in County Wicklow, while the village itself is in County Wexford.
The trustees undertook to redevelop the derelict house into a community building. With the engineering expertise of Fr. O’ Cochlain, and with plans drawn up by Brian
Byrne architect, work finally started on the building in March 2000 thanks to May’s bequest and a grant from WORD.

While the front of the building was retained, it was rebuilt and extended inside, with a back yard amenity area also. It was mainly finished in May of that year, and the first activity was a prayer meeting on June 29. It was then furnished as the months went on, and gradually activities began at the clubhouse.
Soon a group of young mothers got together and formed a Mother and Toddler group which runs every Wednesday morning. In 2001, the FDYS started a youth club and Co. Wexford Partnership provided computers and grants for courses. In 2002, a junior Youth Group was started. The VEC and the School Completion Fund have supported the provision of teachers in various activities and classes, grants for computer classes, and adult courses in computers and first aid. There is also a homework club two evenings a week.

The Legion of Mary meet every Thursday, and hold a prayer hour once a month, as well as the rosary. Their work includes visiting people who live alone, visiting the
bereaved, and visiting those in prison.