Work will start on Wednesday 15th January on Phase One of the planned refurbishment of the interior of St. Patrick’s Church. This phase involves the painting of the entire interior of the church. The whole electrical system also needs to be upgraded, and this will also form part of this initial phase of refurbishment. This will entail a complete rewiring of the building, the installation of a new modern, more energy-efficient lighting system, emergency lighting, fire alarm and signed emergency exits.
Commencing on Wednesday January 15th, weekday Mass will be celebrated in the Ballyhaunis Community (Parochial) Hall at 10am. It is hoped to livestream the weekday Masses via a mobile tab, as we are very fortunate to have large numbers of people in all corners of the world tuning into daily Mass and we hope to be in a position to continue this service.
Weekend Masses, funerals and baptisms will continue to be celebrated in the church.
The Confirmation Ceremony on March 13th will take place in Knock Basilica at 12pm.
During the course of each day, parishioners like to pop into the church to say a prayer and perhaps to light a candle. While there will not be access to the main body of the church during weekdays, we will make every effort to maintain access to the Blessed Sacrament chapel and the candelabra next to the entrance of the chapel during the week. However, even this access will have to be temporarily denied for a time to allow for the painting of the area around the porch and entrance to the chapel.
The aim is to have the bulk of Phase One of the project completed in time for Holy Week, commencing April 14th, 2025.
Obviously, work like this will involve inconveniencing parishioners and all who are in the habit of using the church building for worship and prayer. We aim to keep that inconvenience to a minimum.
We are blessed to have such a beautiful church building that has been handed onto us by previous generations who built and maintained the church in difficult, less prosperous times.
We ask for your patience and above all your prayers for the successful completion of the project.
Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to the members of Parish Pastoral Council, the Parish Finance Committee and all who have given so generously of their time in progressing the project to this point.
Fr. Stephen