Naas Parish Church

Our Lady & St. David’s Parish Church, Sallins Rd.

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Remedial work to be carried out on Parish Church

It is twenty five years since the very major reordering and renovation of Our Lady and St. David’s Church in Naas. Ware and tare of this well used and loved church has taken its toll. In addition some items not addressed in 1985 must now be faced. Water is entering the building in a number of places so the building must now be re-pointed and broken guttering and down pipes replaced. The old mortuary chapel, main porch and stairs were not attended to in 1985; there is no heating in this area. It is now proposed to upgrade this whole area and bring it into regular use.

The display at the back of the Church outlines the proposed work. It has been divided into three phases:
Phase 1 consists of external works necessary to make the building weather proof—re-pointing, repair of roof and windows and replacement of defective guttering.
Phase 2 involves internal work—installing heating in the main porch and old mortuary chapel, re-positioning of tabernacle in the sanctuary area, provision of toilets accessible from the inside of the church, converting mortuary chapel into a vestry, upgrading of areas around the present sacristy, upgrading of electrical works and repainting of the interior.
Phase 3 consists of up-grading of church grounds and car park. The work has been considered by the finance committee, building groups and pastoral council.

It is recommended by all three groups that Phase 1 be completed this year and that it would be best to do Phase 2 at the same time. Phase 3 should be left to be considered at a later date. Luckily the parish has the finance to look after Phase 1. Phase 2 could be financed by a loan repayable over a number of years. The building & finance groups are preparing a fuller presentation on the project and will place it before parishioners, for their information, in the near future. In the meantime the necessary declarations and permissions will be sought from the local authorities.

We are all aware that these are very difficult times and finance is a problem for all development, especially voluntarily funded developments. As a parish we will have to devise a funding plan which is realistic and viable in light of today’s economic circumstances.

The church will not be available for weddings during this time of renovation. It will be closed for some weeks during renovation but will be available for weekend Masses. More details later. (March 2011).

Renovation Update – Work to begin January 2013

The renovation and up-grading of the Church of Our Lady and St. David, Naas has been discussed and planned for many years. In 2009 a decision was made to go ahead with the work and a pre-planning meeting was held with the local authority. Following this meeting it was agreed that the work of seeking planning permission and going to tender would be carried out during 2010 and that the work of renovation would take place during 2011. To facilitate this, bookings for weddings were not taken for 2011. Unfortunately, despite assurances that we were holding to the proposed programme, considerable slippage in the timing has taken place.We have finally been given a timing of January to August 2012 for the work. Fourteen wedding bookings have been accepted for those months and these must be honoured by the parish. A further seven bookings have been made for the remainder of the year. In the light of this it has been necessary to inform the architect that the project cannot be carried out during the suggested period. Accordingly, the work has had to be postponed to the period January to August 2013. This is the earliest period which is free of wedding bookings. On behalf of the parish team and the building and finance committees I apologise for this delay in the proposed renovation, which has occurred due to circumstances outside our control. We apologise to all who have been inconvenienced by this delay and ask for your continued patience.

In the meantime some necessary remedial works will be carried out. The lower public gallery will be made safe for use so that it can be re-opened. The stairs to the gallery will be inspected and any necessary repairs will be made. The main porch will be painted. In order to eliminate any possible risk at the steps leading down to the baptistery the work proposed in the general renovation will be carried out. This will involve the raising of the font to floor level. All of this work will be completed by the 8th December 2011.

Fr. Tom McDonnell, P.P. (1st October 2011)