Shannon church damaged in fire

IT is believed that a fire, which broke out at Christ Church in Drumgeely in Shannon last Tuesday evening, began accidentally.
A Garda spokesman said that waste materials were being burned nearby and caused the church, which is a timber structure, to catch fire. No one was hurt in the blaze but a significant amount of damage was caused to the building. The alarm was raised shortly after 5.30pm and emergency services were at the scene for several hours afterwards.
Dr Rosemary Power works as a Minister at Shannon and Clare on behalf of the Methodist Church and she said a lot of damage had been done. “We have to see what the future holds but the congregation will continue to meet. Certainly the church will be in need of some work. No one was hurt and we have got a lot of support from other churches and the community.”
She said that the church would have had a capacity of about 150.
While he is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of Christ Church, Canon Bob Hanna has had a long association with it and he said he was saddened by the fire.
“Needless to say, I was quite shocked at the damage to the church. It represented something of the history of Shannon over the last 40 years and I’ve been privileged to be involved over the last 16 years. It was a very pleasant little building and it remains to be seen what the future for it is, as congregation patterns have changed and there may not be a need for such a building.”
Church of Ireland Bishop Trevor Williams was on the scene on Tuesday for support.