Sunday, January 16, 2011

Ballinroad church to be restored following fire

In less than two weeks after a fire devastated St Laurence’s Church at Ballinroad outside Dungarvan, plans are already underway to restore it to its rightful place at the heart of the community. 

Parish Priest Fr Tim O'Riordan said that in the meantime arrangements are in place to hold mass locally.

“We’ve started holding our Sunday Mass in Ballinroad Hall and that will be there while the restoration work is going on,” Fr O'Riordan told ciNews.  

“People are devastated but they will rally.  This is a strong community.  We have had lots of messages of support and offers of help on whatever has to be done.  The Church is boarded up and it is closed.  The sacristy was destroyed and the body of the church has a lot of smoke and water damage.”

The 200-year-old Co Waterford church, which had a full year of celebrations for its bicentenary in 2004, is one of three churches in the Parish of Abbeyside, Ballinroad and Garranbane with an increasing congregation drawn from the village of Ballinroad and surrounding rural areas.

“It is the area of the parish that has grown, there are several new housing estates so the congregation has grown over the last 10 years,” said Fr O' Riordan.

Four units of the fire brigade attended the fire which started around 9pm on Saturday night of 1st January 2011 and which was finally brought under control at 2:30am.  

Parishioners arriving for 10 o clock mass on that Sunday morning were met with Gardaí and a scene of devastation had to go elsewhere.

It is estimated that the fire caused more than €300,000 worth of damage, and that restoration will take 4-6 months.  

Parishioners hope that work will be completed in time for First Holy Communion ceremonies. 

They are particularly appreciative of the swift response of the Gardaí and Fire Brigade and the subsequent work of Fr O’Riordan and the Area Council of the Parish Council in dealing with the aftermath and planning for the future. 

They will miss their church that one described as “a spiritually comfortable church” which 
was most welcoming, warm, and conducive to “a religious experience.”  

They look forward to its reopening.

Within a few days of the fire, two men appeared before a special sitting of Dungarvan District Court.  

Stephen Foley, and Kevin Nolan from Dungarvan, were charged with burglary and with criminal damage at the church.

SIC: CIN/IE