Ardee to get new church building
February 1971
ARDEE is to have a new church and the existing St. Mary’s Church, built in 1829, will not be repaired.
This was made clear in a statement by the Parish Priest, Very Rev. Canon P. McDonnell, when he spoke from the pulpit at Masses in St. Mary’s on Sunday.
He said : “I wish to make the following statement in order to put an end to rumours and to kill falsehoods. The decision to build a new church was made by the people of the parish at the third of the general meetings held for that purpose. At that meeting a committee was appointed—now known as the
Parish Committee.
“The Committee, in carrying out the work assigned to it, deserves, and should have, the full support of every person in this parish. In co-operation lies success — without it there is failure.
“I wish to state further that no one, and that includes myself, knows, as yet, what the new church will cost. Anything you hear or read about this is pure guesswork — even mischievous. Any day now I expect the architect to submit to us the almost completed plans of the new church for our approval. I hope this statement will clear the air and enlist the support of every parishioner.”
Asked for his views on the Canon’s statement, a member of the group opposed to building a new church said it was now likely that opposition to the building of a new church would end. if only to avoid splitting the parish on the issue. “And. after all, the Canon is the parish priest,” he said.
In an Interview, Fr. McDonnell inferred that recent publicity in “Louthman’s Diary” on the new church project had created a situation in Ardee akin to “The Valley of the Squinting Windows” (the title of a book by Brindsley McNamara. which caused uproar in Delvin. when it was published some 50 years ago). It was for this reason, the Canon said, he felt obliged to make a statement on the matter.