Fr Billy Flynn has lodged a planning application for St Michael’s Church in Gorey.
The application seeks to undertake urgent roof repairs as well as floor strengthening works to facilitate the installation of a new 3.5 tonne organ.
The application under which was received by Wexford County Council’s planning department on Wednesday, June 12, also looks for permission for roof maintenance works and additional structural strengthening to existing organ gallery floor.
St Michael’s Church is a listed Protected Structure under the County Wexford Development Plan and it’s also listed as a nationally important building under the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
The proposed maintenance includes localised re-fixing of fallen/slipped slates and the installation of new slates as well as repairing of the lead/copper valleys and soakers, cleaning where required the repair of selected roof gutters and downpipes as well as vegetation and growth from the roof.
The urgent need to commence the repair works on the roof soon are highlighted in the application as they need to be completed before next winter.
One section of the application reads: “the missing granite stone section below the capping to the corner pinnacle is a health and safety risk if it was dislodged. The original stone section when it became loose caused damage to the slate roof below which requires urgent attention.”It also looks for permission for granite stone masonry repair works to replace missing and/or compromised carved stone with new Wicklow Granite.
Furthermore, the application outlines that additional steel strengthening needs to be installed to the organ gallery floor above the west entrance porch, to facilitate the installation of a new church organ of approximately 3,500kg.
The detached 9 bay double height Catholic church was built between 1839 and 1842. It was renovated in 1973 and some of the many updates were; a reordered sanctuary, round headed window openings with cut-granite surrounds, pitched slate roofs on a cruciform plan, side aisles with apse, lichen covered ridge tiles, cut granite coping to gables on “Cavetto” kneelers and cast iron rainwater goods on exposed timber rafters
Roof repair works were carried out in 2014 while considerable internal restoration works were done.