Renovated Dunboyne church reopens for its 50th anniversary

Bishop Michael Smith consecrated the new altar and rededicated the Church of Ss Peter and Paul, Dunboyne, on Sunday, marking the opening of the church following renovations and refurbishment to mark its golden jubilee. The church first opened its doors on 30th September 1959, and in recent months has undergone extensive refurbishment and renovation under the direction of architect, Richard Hurley, RHA. The original architect was Simon Aloysius Leonard. Mr Hurley has been involved in church architecture for over 30 years and has received numerous awards for his work. The refurbished church contains a number of new artistic features. The new altar and ambo were sculpted by Tom Glendon. In the works, he has brought all of his creativity, craftsmanship and practical experience into play. The celebrant's chair was designed by Ken Thompson and a new stained glass window in the baptismal chapel is by artist George Walsh. George Walsh, whose father, Stephen, designed the stations of the cross, says he would "hope that after viewing the window, people would leave with some feeling of spiritual renewal". The homily on Sunday was preached by Fr Ronan Drury, Professor of Homiletics at Saint Patrick's College, Maynooth, who also preached the homily at the ceremony to mark the opening of the church in 1959. The parish priest of Dunboyne, Mons Dermot Farrell, said: "Our celebration today is an important recognition of the debt we owe to those who have gone before us. Without them, your lives would be quite different - perhaps even less Catholic. And, yet, although this world is very different from anything they could have imagined, they built for the future, and what they built is still the centre of a living community of faith - as our presence here this morning demonstrates. "We look on them as people who left us a heritage which is uniquely valuable - a tradition of faith in God who made himself known in Christ in the sending of the Holy Spirit." Mons Farrell said a golden jubilee should, of course, provide an occasion not only for celebrating the past but for planning for the future, and the refurbishment has been chiefly about looking ahead. "Our parish church is not simply the most magnificent monument in the locality. A church is a powerful symbol: what you see here stands for something not easy to see, much more burdensome to build - the faith life of our parish community. I have no doubt that the building of this church 50 years ago was a great community effort - as indeed was this refurbishment. "Sharing our faith with the generations that come after us can only be a community effort. It may be tempting to say to oneself, 'if only the priests or the bishop or the teachers or whoever would do something about it…' When it became clear 50 years ago that a new church was needed, I doubt if people said 'why doesn't somebody do something?' I am sure that the whole community thought, 'what can we do?' If we are to pass on a living faith, that is what we must do too." A faith history of the parish was produced in booklet form by Veritas to mark the occasion, designed by Colette Dower, with paintings of the church and its predecessor by Vincent O'Neill, Dunboyne.