A detailed survey of the Sacred Heart Church, Roscommon is currently underway. This is in response to maintenance issues that have arisen at the beautiful building.
The church was consecrated on June 18th, 1903 and will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2023. Sadly, over recent years, it has shown signs of moisture ingress, and other maintenance issues are also pressing.
In response to this, the parish has engaged Brandon-O’Brien Consulting Engineers to undertake a detailed survey of the church. They have identified and costed works deemed essential in terms of safety and preventing further damage to the building.
A fundraising drive is now underway, as Geraldine Grealy, PRO of the Church Fundraising Committee, explained to the Roscommon People.
Geraldine said: “We are hoping that the people of Roscommon will support the essential fundraising efforts for their local church, by giving whatever amount they can afford to donate financially. We appreciate fully that households are already under pressure financially with the rising costs of day to day living and the impending expense of the Christmas season”.
A comprehensive photographic story board and donation box is now on display in the church porch. It is hoped that the picture storyboard will resonate with mass-goes and parishioners who will see the extent of the roof damage for themselves.
The key necessary refurbishment works at this time include: Remedial works to slating and lead valleys; Replacement of bell supports (due to rust); Remedial works to the pinnacles of the church, and remedial works to the boiler house chimney.
The cost of the required works is estimated to be in the region of €100,000. Donation envelopes are now available in the church porch.
Geraldine Grealy concluded: “We have no doubt that parishioners will have many wonderful shared memories of the church and of the many joyful family occasions that generations of Roscommon people have celebrated here down through the years.
“We want to safeguard and maintain our local church for generations to come and ensure it does not go into a bad state of disrepair, therefore we are calling on the generosity and goodwill of the local community to help out in any way they can”.
