They’ve had to wait nearly 150 years, but residents of one West Cork village finally have a traditional organ in their church.The pipe organ has been installed in the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Enniskeane following a €40,000 refurbishment project, for which locals are currently fundraising.
New organ components have had to be bought and existing components repaired and upgraded, while significant structural work has been carried out in the church itself to accommodate the organ, said Fr Tom Hayes, the parish priest.
The upstairs gallery of the church, which first opened its doors in 1871, has had to be renovated and specially reinforced to accommodate the three-and-a-half tonne instrument:
"We’re basically raising money to help offset the cost, both of repairs to the organ and of refurbishing the gallery — in all about €40,000," said Fr Hayes.
The organ replaces the smaller electric organ, which has been in the church for some 30 years.
"The old organ is nearing the end of its lifespan," he said, adding that although it had been customary to install an organ when the Church was originally dedicated for worship in 1871, the people of the parish did not have enough money left over from the construction of the church to pay for one at the time.
However, a few years later the Sisters of Mercy in Clonakilty commissioned a pipe organ for their new convent. The organ was built in London and transported to Clonakilty, where it was installed and blessed in the convent chapel in 1878.
Parishioners and friends of the Enniskeane and Desertserges Parish are being asked to sponsor one of the organ’s 622 pipes.
For more, visit enniskeaneparish.ie