Bishop Niall Coll recently visited Teach Pobail Mhuire, Doiri Beaga.
The church was destroyed by an overnight fire in the early hours of Easter Monday, April 21, 2025.
Through extensive fundraising and a successful insurance claim with Allianz, efforts are underway to begin rebuilding the church.
Upon his visit, the Bishop of Raphoe met with the Parish Priest, Fr Brian Ó Fearraigh, and went to the site of Teach Pobail Mhuire.
He also attended a scheduled meeting of Meitheal Mhuire at Ionad Naomh Pádraig. Architect Karl Pedersen and quantity surveyor Eugene Coyle joined the meeting, where Karl presented the latest design draft for the new church.
This was followed by a detailed discussion on the design, associated costs and the next stages of the project.
“Our challenge is to achieve the right design for the needs of our parish community, while ensuring that the overall project remains financially responsible and achievable,” Fr Brian Ó Fearraigh said. “Bishop Niall, the priests of the parish and the members of Meitheal Mhuire are greatly encouraged by the design work undertaken to date. Work will now continue on refining the design and examining the associated costs.
“Once this work has reached the appropriate stage, the proposed design will be formally presented to Bishop Niall and the Diocesan Building Team for their consideration and approval. Following this, we hope to be in a position to present the design, drawings and model of the new Teach Pobail Mhuire to the community in the coming weeks, before proceeding to the planning permission stage.
“We are very grateful to Bishop Niall for the time he spent with us and for his continued support and guidance. We are also deeply grateful to everyone who continues to contribute to this important work as, together, we take these careful and considered steps towards building our new Teach Pobail Mhuire.”