It has been gutted from the inside out. But ‘The Blue Church’ will retain its ‘Marian Blue’ exterior when a major renovation project is completed.

Locals are now appealing for help in paying for the restoration work at the 85-year-old wooden church in Kilternan, south Dublin.

Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic church closed in May for extensive restoration and renovations. It is hoped it will be ‘back in business’ for weddings and christenings from mid-July.

Public relations executive Aileen Eglington is one of the locals with a huge emotional investment in the church, not least because she married her husband Paul there in 1982.

Aileen’s grandfather Michael Jordan helped fundraise the stg£3,368 to build the original church and Aideen’s late mother Joan was the Sacristan and florist, tending to thousands of weddings while her dad Dick used to cut the grass with Wimbledon-like precision.

“In recent years, the church had some structural problems and these have been solved in a major renovation. There was damage to the wood and the church needed new heating and wiring. The water had got into the plaster so there was a lot of work to be done and four weeks ago, they discovered the roof joists were gone under the tiles so that was another €30,000,” said Aileen, who, two generations later, is fundraising like her grandfather did.

“The work has cost €350,000 and over €160,000 has been raised to date, of which €40,000 came from a Race Day in Leopardstown. There have been a lot of cake sales and Christmas cards sold but, as they say, a lot done, a lot more to do.

Contribution

“Thousands and thousands of couples were married at the Blue Church over the years and if any of them would like to make even a small contribution to the restoration bill, based on their fond memories of the church, it would be very gratefully received,” she said.

Fr Andrew O’Sullivan pointed out that it was built as a temporary structure and is now a protected structure.

* Anyone interested in a wedding or christening at the church can contact Sandyford Parish Office (01 2956414), email office@sandyfordparish.or log onto www.sandyfordparish.org

 

Knock, Knock? How did it go? On Saturday 31st
of May a bus left the Parish to carry 56 of us to the national Sanctuary of
Knock. The bus also carried the many intentions and prayers of
our parishioners. The Mass at the Gable of the apparitions was
the high point of the pilgrimage during which our two 9 year old
pilgrims brought up and lit the Parish candle representing the
presence of the entire parish. We also shared moments of
prayer, of laughter; we shared table and thoughts…
and a few unexpected trips over the Shannon.
A special word of gratitude must be extended to the Adoration
Committee who promoted and organized this event with great
dedication. It is great to see the lay members of the Parish take on rolls and organize events that were previously reserved to the
parish team…