Renovations complete at St Joseph’s Redemptorist Church in Dundalk

Fr Noel Kehoe C.Ss.R celebrated the first mass back in St Joseph’s Redemptorist Church in Dundalk on Saturday 11 March, following its closure for eight weeks, to allow renovations to take place.

Talking to the Dundalk Democrat, Fr Kehoe said that being back was “a big relief, and amazed that we got it all done so quickly.”

He continues, “There was a lot of anticipation and although we are very lucky we have the facilities here (St Gerard's Hall) to have masses but its not the same. When people came in and saw what had been done and the lighting and the new sanctuary, there's a great sense of, I suppose, the beauty of the church. People are coming in all through out the day to see it and the lighting in particular.”

Fr Kehoe explained that the renovation itself had different parts to it, including the bells needed to be done and the pews needed to be repaired. He added that the whole church had to be rewired for electricity and fire safety, “so it became a bigger job than we anticipated.”

^{Above: Fr Noel Kehoe (Photo: Arthur Kinahan)}

The new lighting is a big feature of the renovations, and Fr Kehoe explains, needs to be quite discrete for the type of building. “It highlights the mosaics and the various different elements of the church, the architecture of the church.

“It has really surpassed any sort of expectations that we had. There's so many beautiful elements in St Joseph's Church that we just weren't able to see because they were so high up, or were dark and up until this point lighting would have been unable to light those features.

“With the technology that we have now, the lighting can be dimmed and different colours [can be used], so it allows for creating a very powerful type of atmosphere.

So as well as giving great light to the church, which it didn't have previously, it also allows for different settings for masses including the Easter Vigil and daytime settings, for people coming into the shrines. “Of course the big reveal is the roof, the ceiling of the church, which is a masterpiece in itself that we have never been able to highlight before.”

Fr Kehoe says that the community is “just delighted”, with the renovations. “I suppose its just about the beauty of the church. Since we opened there's been a steady stream throughout the day, people traveling from around that have heard about it, or have heard about it on Facebook and coming in to see it.

“When we launched this project, we did it under the theme of renewing in hope and building community. It's Teach an Phobal, the People's House, this is their church, this is where they come to pray. People are delighted, that's the long and short of it and so are we.”

After four years as Rector and Parish Administrator, Fr Kehoe finishes his term on Easter Sunday. He says that, “I feel very sad, Dundalk has been like a home appointment for me.”

He adds, “I knew it was going to be a four year term but I love Dundalk, I love the people, I love the church, its the church that I came to know as a child and came to know the Redemptorist through. So I'm sad but I'm also very grateful for the opportunity to have been here for the last four years. I didn't expect it so, it was wonderful.”