Continuing in the vein of 'lost churches' I thought this week to feature the beautiful Dominican church in Sligo. Looking at the image below one might be tempted to ask the question 'why did it become a lost church'. A great many of the churches demolished in Ireland belonged to one of the Protestant denominations; this was due in part to the significant reduction of the Protestant population in many areas in the Republic in the twentieth century. This church here was of course Catholic, so that's one avenue that can be discounted. When Catholic churches were demolished, often in the late nineteenth or twentieth centuries it was because they were considered 'undignified', harping back to penal times. The image of the church below hardly points to towards such an explanation. One of the main reasons, however, for the church's ultimate demolition was that it simply had become too small for the growing congregation. Thus the final Mass was celebrated in 1971, with a new church opening on the site in 1973.
This fine church originally dated from the 1840s. It was opened at the height of the Famine in 1848, a great tribute to the endeavors of the local Catholic community. In the early 1900s the church was enlarged, with a new sanctuary being added. A simple yet noble building, the church's most striking feature was the stunning wooden hammer-bean roof. However, it was partly due to the roof, ridden with woodworm and leaking, that led to the decision to erect a new church in its place was made. Unfortunately I have not been able to locate a picture of the original church's exterior. If anyone knows of one please let me know!
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