When Fr. John Doyle was
appointed Parish
Priest of Newbawn in
1897, he found the old
church in bad repair and
soon started making
arrangements for a new
building. Fr. Doyle
raised a lot of funds
from voluntary
subscriptions. A
monster raffle was held
on June 29 1890, Feast
Day of St. Peter and
St. Paul.
The old church was
leveled and the
foundation stone for the
new building was laid in
March 1889. The new
church was built on the
site of the old church
by Mr. Andrew Cullen of
New Ross. Soon the
beautiful gothic church,
which is still used, was
built on the site. It
is built in the early
gothic style by a team
of thirty to forty
workmen aided by the parishioners in
every way they could.
The stones for the
masonry were salvaged from
the old church and
obtained from Sweetmans of Collopswell.
This masonry was
decorated with granite
dressing from Quinns of
Bagnelstown. The
granite dressing was
brought from
Bagneslstown by anyone
in the area who had a
horse and cart. They
built a handsome granite
porch to the front of
the church with a
massive stone cross on
the top.
The church is a fine
church consisting of
nave, aisle and apse.
From the floor to the
ridge of the roof the
Church is over
40ft high and 32ft wide.
The nicely pitched roof
comprised of lovely
timberwork looks like an
upturned boat from
inside the church. The timbers
for the ceiling came
from Canada and they
were also brought from
the quay in New Ross by
the local people with
their horses and carts.
|
|
William
Hague
(1836-1899)
William
Hague,
Architect,
was
born
in
1836
in
Plush
near
Butlersbridge,
Co.
Cavan.
It
was
called
Adriplushe
at
that
time.
His
family
moved
to
Cavan
town
in
1838.
His
father
was
a
wealthy
builder
and
young
William
grew
up
surrounded
by
the
building
trade.
Attracted
for
that
reason
to
architecture,
when
he
qualified
he
wanted
to
design
small
chapels
looking
like
grand
cathedrals,
and
so
built
arches
and
pillars
in
his
churches,
and
designed
for
spires
and
belfries.
The
windows
are
a
special
feature
as
well.
He
designed
dozens
of
convents
and
churches
throughout
Ireland,
including
St.
Patrick's
College
in
Cavan.
In
Wexford
he
designed
the
Convent
Church
in
New
Ross
as
well
as
Newbawn
Church.
He
died
in
Dublin
on
the
22nd
of
March
1899
at
the
age
of
63.
His
son
William
became
a
writer
and
photographer. |
Source
Cunningham
Papers,
Dublin
Builders
Journal, and
‘A Companion
Guide to
Architecture
in Ireland’
|
All the windows are
filled in with cathedral
glass giving a soft
light in the church..
The body of the church
gets its light from
five twin light windows
on one side and four of
the same on the other
side. The high altar was
a gift from the late
Catherine Sweetman and
it cost £ 200. The
side altars were donated
by the late William Howlett and cost
£ 100 each.
In all the church cost
£ 3,000 to build
so more funds had to be
raised to finish it. A
Bazaar was organised
with tickets costing 6
old pennies (6d) each.
Canon Byrne was priest
when Vatican II came.
The altar was turned
around and the altar
railings removed in
1965. Father Patrick
Cummins came to the
parish in 1985.
Following his arrival the pulpit got a
new face lift, the altar
got new wooden floors
and carpets, the windows
were stormed glazed, new
lighting was installed
and the outside
sandblasted. People were
happy to subscribe to a
second collection at
mass every Sunday to get
all this work done.
Also some money was
given by the Field Day
Committee. The ambo was
given by the Butler
family as a memorial to
the the late Tom Butler
in 1986.
Father James Byrne
succeeded Fr Cummins in
1998. He was born in
1934. He served his
first Mass in Newbawn,
on Palm Sunday in 1998.
He brought people
together by forming
groups; women from each
area cleaned the Church
each week. There
were
six areas represented,
namely Ballyclemoc,
Raheenvarren,
Carrigbyrne, Newbawn,
Tinnecarrig and
Kilbraney. He also
organised the
boys and girls of the
National School to serve
and read at Mass each weekend.
Fr. Tom McGrath became
PP in 2007 following a
career in the priesthood
stretching back to 1967
which saw him serve in
the Mission House in
Enniscorthy, St. Peter's
College, Galbally and
Our Lady's Island. Fr.
McGrath successfully
oversaw the renovation
of the Parochial House
and the re-roofing of
the Church.
