Heritage project begins at old Castletown church
ORIGINAL BUILDING BURNT DOWN IN 1798
Work begins on St Patrick's Church in Castletown.
Tuesday August 31 2010
WORK has begun to create a heritage project at the old church in Castletown Graveyard. When completed, the structure will include cremation walls for the interment of ashes; a Mass rock; and information on local sites of historical Christian sites in the area.
Demolition and building work are currently under way, but it won't be until next year that the project is finally completed, when additional funding becomes available.
This is a parish project, in conjunction with Castletown Development Group, and a spokesperson for the Heritage Project Committee explained that it was decided to undertake the project following a parish meeting.
The old church was built as a compensation church in 1806 by the British, after Yeomen burnt down the original church in 1798.
The current Castletown Parish Church replaced it in 1885. The old church was later used as a parish hall for dances and showing films, and many of the older generation in the local area would have sentimental memories of social events there.
However it subsequently fell out of use, and into ruin. The roof had to be removed several years ago because it was in a dangerous condition.
Several parish meetings were held to decide what to do with the building, and it was initially decided to seek grant aid to develop it as a viable building, but due to its location in a graveyard, it was felt that this would be a difficult undertaking.
There was also the fact that it is not a good quality building, and it was continuing to deteriorate, said the spokesperson. At a later parish meeting, a plan was arrived at to create the heritage project.
The front and sides of the building are being lowered, to open up the structure to the rest of the graveyard. Inside, a Mass rock will be used as an altar, and cremation walls will be put in place to meet the growing demand for a resting place for ashes.
The Kilgorman area has a very rich early Christian history, and information panels will be put in place with information on various sites, including holy wells etc.
A Cist grave, which was found in an eroding cliff at Kilmichael several years ago, will be recreated in a side chapel, and a replica of the urn found inside, will be installed in the grave.
Volunteers will be helping to continue work on the project once the demolition and building work is completed. The project is being part funded by WORD.
- FINTAN LAMBE
