Parochial Houses.

Its obvious where they get their wages - people pay the priest for funerals, weddings etc. Irrespective of marriages declining, the majority are still being christened and buried in a church, whether COI or RCC. Alot are genuinely hard workers and earn their wages. Our local PPs juggling 3 parishes and between funerals and now confirmations/communions. Church collections and church dues also i imagine go towards parish upkeep. I dont think its fair to expect elderly men who are most likely set in their ways to all of a sudden live in communal groups. Over a third of PP are over 60. There are many other cohorts of Irish society who live in far more lavish settings, including our own president who could begin reducing footprints if that's your concern. If you're not putting money in the basket every week or paying for weddings/funerals etc, it shouldn't be a worry.

A few have been up for sale in past few years - interior pics show houses that haven't been modernised for some time.

Ah stop with your accusations of bias - I'm referencing my experience which obviously doesn't align with your imaginings. Grim was my descriptive - far removed from squalor which no one mentioned.

Have a look through property pages over the past few years, many parochial houses have been sold and their interiors typically illustrate a dated interior with poor heating, insulation etc . Perusing the BER will be indicative of this.

Who's talking about communal groups?

I can only talk about my own parish.

From the time the church was built it has had 3 priests. Each have their own house. The main priest has a massive house, I'd say it's 4 bedrooms and good sized at that. The other 2 priests have a 3 bedroom house each.

Whatever about the main priest, I could never understand why the 2 other priests couldn't share a house.

You said yourself some of the houses you've gone into there's damp etc. Sharing a house would cut bills in half. Maintenance and upkeep would be halved. Etc.

If there's only one priest in the parish I've absolutely no problem them living alone...but when there's 2 or 3 and they each have their own house it seems fairly excessive.

Comparing a parish priest to the president living alone, is just weird.

This is the crux of what is obnoxious about this thread.

There are far more non- priests living alone in 3-beds than there are priests. There are probably more 3-beds left empty due to Fair Deal than there are priests in 3-beds.

But no one is going around saying single people shouldn't live alone.