Priests pay €700k for a €4m church
A GROUP of priests looking for a new premises have had their prayers answered – and got a bargain in the process.
The historic church in Limerick city once had a hefty price tag of more than €4million, but the young priests secured it for just €700,000.
The Sacred Heart Church has been idle for the past six years, after the late Galway developer John O’Dolan bought the property from the Jesuits.
Before his death in 2009, he had plans to turn the building into a leisure centre and bar.
However, the building will return to its original use after it was bought by the Institute of Christ the King priests, which has links across Europe and the US. The community is led by 38-year- old Frenchman Canon Wulfran Lebocq, who has lived in Co. Limerick since 2010.
He said that the priests have been working on the deal for the past year, and met the asking price ‘with the help of numerous friends from Ireland, the US and continental Europe’.
‘Thank God, and thanks to our many prayers, and thanks to some local benefactors, we have found a mortgage,’ he added.
However, he said the order would be looking for about €300,000 to carry out ‘urgent’ repair works to the building, which was built in 1864.
‘There are repairs needed to the roof, which are urgent, and to the altar and so forth. We will be looking for donations from the public. This is a very popular church and a very important church, and one of the nicest in the country,’ said Canon Lebocq.
The community of priests has an average age of just 32, and the Sacred Heart Church will be used as their private chapel for now. It is hoped that eventually the church will re-open to the public.
The protected building measures 25,000sq ft overall, and is split into the church area, a Georgian living space and an enclosed garden.