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