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St Matthew's Church Drumavaddy |
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Introduction There
was a medieval church and small monastic settlement in the townland of
Carrickaboy, a short distance away from the present day St Matthew’s
Church. The foundations of
the church are still present in the old cemetery there. This church was
marked on William Petty’s 1685 General
Mapp of Ireland
though it may have been used by the Established Church at that
time. In 1821 there was a
chapel in the nearby townland of Drumavaddy. This chapel doubled as a
school during the week. It is thought that this may have been a Latin
school. The earliest Ordnance Survey map shows a chapel in the townland of Drumavaddy. This was a late 18th century barn chapel and was a simple rectangular building. It corresponds to the cross chapel of the present day St Matthew’s church. Major work was carried out on the church in 1865 when Fr Patrick Gilroy was parish priest and Fr Patrick Daly and Fr Bernard Fitzpatrick were curates. It was made into a cruciform shape in 1865, a shape it still retains today. Because part of the old barn church was incorporated into cruciform church it can claim to be one of the oldest churches in the diocese of Kilmore. In 1928 the parish priest Fr Michael Young reported that although the church structure was basically sound it needed a new floor in the sanctuary and new altar rails. A
photograph of the church in 1947 shows it surrounded by trees with a
bell mounted directly over the main doorway and In 1957, while Fr James O’Reilly was parish priest, extensive work costing a total of £16,000 was carried out on the church. The walls were raised by seven feet and a new slated roof was put on. A new entrance porch, baptistery, gallery and sacristy were built. The architect was Patrick Gaffney and the contractors were Smith & O’Reilly from Ballyhaise. The church was rededicated by Bishop Austin Quinn on 28 September 1958. It is hoped to carry out restoration work in this Church soon.
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