On a bitterly cold afternoon just two days into the new year of 2012, firemen prised back the doors of St Catherine’s Church on Meath Street, Dublin, to investigate reports of a blaze inside.
The cold air rushed inside and met gases released by the burning of the
crib beside the altar, causing an explosion that blew out the stained
glass windows, taking with it 150 years of history.
“It took just 20 minutes for the inside of the church to be in ruins,” parish priest Fr Niall Coghlan
said. “Every single inch was affected by the explosion. It took out the
windows, blew the top off the organ, melted the light fittings which
dripped down on to the seats and the floor. It even melted the paint off
the walls.”
The fire was the result of an arson attack. A 49-year-old homeless man
admitted setting the straw in the crib alight. Earlier this year he was
found not guilty by reason of insanity after a trial at Dublin Circuit
Criminal Court. He was committed to the Central Mental Hospital.
Following a closure of almost two years and restoration and
reconstruction costing €4.1 million, the church will reopen to the
public at 10am today. Parishioners will find a very different interior.
“We had always thought the altar was just plaster, but when the layers
of paint melted away it turned out it was this beautiful French
limestone. All the pillars were made of the same stone,” Fr Coghlan
said.
The butter-coloured stone from Caen in Normandy is inlaid with gold
mosaic tiles.
A parquet floor has been fitted to replace the
mid-20th-century linoleum.
The wooden pews have been cleaned, varnished
and reupholstered.
And the stained glass windows have been restored and
bounce patches of coloured light around the golden stone.
“When people come back in they will be seeing what the parishioners saw
when they first walked though the doors in 1858,” Fr Coghlan said.
There is still work to be done.
The stained glass window behind the
altar is still undergoing restoration and will not be replaced until
next summer.
The organ will be replaced after Christmas.
The church
retains its quirks, including the bust of Kevin Barry masquerading as a saint, which was installed in the early 1920s by a priest with strong political views.
The church has received some criticism for the money spent on the
restoration, Fr Coghlan said.
Most of the cost was covered by insurance,
with €230,000 provided through fundraising.
“The work had to be done anyway, because Dublin City Council insisted that at least 70 per cent of the building be restored.”
The first mass will be celebrated on Sunday by Bishop Eamonn Walsh at 12.15pm following a procession from the Augustinian Church on John’s Lane at noon.