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Kayley Hardiman, 23 Aug
DROMCOLLOGHER'S St Bartholomew’s Church commemorate its 200 year
anniversary on Sunday, September 8. For the bicentenary of the
foundation of the church, a special Mass will be celebrated by Bishop
Brendan Leahy on that day, at 2pm.
Everyone that may be interested is invited to attend this special
occasion in the parish’s history. There will be refreshments served
afterwards at the Community Hall.
Today’s Saint Bartholomew’s church was built in 1824 by Father Michael
Fitzgerald, who acquired the site in 1819. He bought the site from
Robert Jones Staveley of Glenduff Castle, Co Limerick, a judge of the
High Court who had bought Dromcollogher and its surrounding lands from
the Courtney estate in 1807. A striking aspect of the building of the
Church in Dromcollogher was the patronage it enjoyed from the Catholic
gentry families in the area, including the contributions of the Sheehy
and the Hannigan families.
Renovations were carried out in 1861 by Father Patrick Quaid, who also
built a new church in neighbouring Broadford. Fr Michael Byrne
refurbished and decorated the church in the early 20th century, with
improvements designed in 1906-1909 by the Limerick-based architect
Brian Edward Fitzgerald Sheehy. The apse and many of the stained-glass
windows were added at this time. In its original form, Saint
Bartholomew’s was probably a T-shaped church.
In the 1980s, the walls of the nave were removed and replaced with
glass panels, forming light-filled, cloister-like side aisles. The
glass panels are the work of Kevin Kelly and the Abbey Stained Glass
Studios. The glass is engraved with both religious and secular scenes,
including scenes from the life of Saint Bartholomew.
Pre-Norman churches, part of a ‘list of churches and land of the see of
Limerick’ compiled in 1201 and contained in The Black Book of Limerick
(the ancient historical manuscript about the diocese) mentioned the
Church in Dromcollogher as
well as references to the churches of Killagholehane, Cloncrew,
Mahoonagh, Killeedy and Tullylease.
READ MORE: People urged to support Relay for Life Limerick for those
affected by cancer
An early mediaeval church in Dromcollogher was destroyed by war in
1302. It was rebuilt and was known as the “capella Dromcolkylle in
Corcomohid” in 1418, when it was part of the larger parish of
Corcomohide.
The ruin of original church for the parish of is located in the
graveyard and stands in the “Glebe of Carhooard West and the town of
Dromcollogher”. It could be that the ruin in the graveyard is the
successor of the original church. Some who have examined it suggest it
more likely dates from the fifteenth century and was most likely built
by the O’Nunans.
Father William O’Donnell, who was parish priest for 33 years and died
in 1876, is the only parish priest buried inside the church. Four
parish priests are buried in the church grounds: Michael Byrne; Canon
James Foley; Canon John Reeves; and Archdeacon Hugh O’Connor.
The very precious marble statue of Our Lady, sculpted by Padraig
Pearse’s father, was acquired by Fr Tomas De Bhál when he was curate in
the parish from 1910 to 1922. James Pearse (1839-1900) donated the
statue of the Virgin Mary to the left of the High Altar.
Of the 48 victims of the 1926 Cinema Disaster in Dromcollogher, 46
people who died in that great tragedy are buried in a mass grave on the
grounds of the church. On the night of Sunday, September 5, 1926 at
9.15pm, the showing of a film was to take place in the upstairs loft
area of a store belonging to a local hardware shop. The films on show
were to be a short film called ‘False Alarm’ and the main film called
‘The Decoy.’
During the showing of the second film at ten minutes to ten o’clock a
lighting candle fell upon the highly flammable Nitrate Film reels. The
fire spread rapidly from the table, across the floor to the partition
and the wainscoting, setting up a dense mass of smoke and fumes. Many
of the crowd rushed the small exit, carrying with them the burning reel
which landed near the ground where it set fire to the stairs/ladder,
blocking the only exit. After just 10 or 15 minutes the roof fell in,
the floor gave way and all within were lost.