Tag Archives: Oatfield Barn Church

CHRISTMAS at Oatfield in East Clare will see a double celebration, as the community marks the completion of works to restore the village’s famous Barn Church, which dates to the 1600s. The careful restoration, upgrading and development of what is believed to be the oldest church in the Killaloe Diocese, has taken almost a decade, and is the result of huge dedication on the part of the local community. Since 2013, thanks to intensive fundraising, essential repairs have been carried out on the protected structure. These include works on the doors, bell tower, storage building and foot-paths. Other work has been done on erecting piers and gates at the car park entrance, as well as the full refurbishment of the kneeling boards in the church. In 2020, local man Donal Ryan created and installed a replica of the original, historical altar, which was removed in the 1960s. In the last couple of weeks, with the completion by Lenihans contractors, of …

AFTER more than 11 years of celebrating the fortnightly mass at the famous Barn Church in Oatfield, Canon Dan Spaight bade the local community a fond farewell last Saturday night. Retired for some years, after his ministry in Middlesborough in the UK, and now living in Ennis, Canon Spaight is a native of Cratloe and was ordained in 1959. “There were a total of 437 priests ordained across Ireland that year,” he recalled. “That was some number.” Canon Spaight enjoyed his ministry and his retirement to Ennis has proven to be an active one. He was approached more than a decade ago by sacristan Noreen Brandon and Parish Council member, the late Geraldine Crehan, to say mass in Oatfield. “It was round two weeks before Christmas in 2009 and I agreed,” he said. “The weather was very bad and I wondered if things continued, if I’d ever get there. I was told not to worry because there were people with …

MONTHS of lockdown were put to good use with a successful application for funds to enhance one of the region’s oldest churches. The community who look after Oatfield Barn Church, one of just of three of its kind which still survive in Ireland, were able to use the time to make a successful application for a conservation grant under the Historic Structure Fund. The fund which is administered by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, has allocated €15,000 for repairs to the protected structure. The application was made possible with the support of the Tomar Trust which will also fund some of the works. “We’re just delighted with this,” said Michael Tynan, Pastoral Council representative and Oatfield Church Project Co-ordinator. “We had to have some of the money in place before we were eligible to apply for the Historic Structure Fund. Because we had support from the Tomar Trust, the way was paved for the application. …

FURTHER restoration work has been undertaken in recent days at what is believed to be the oldest church in use in the Diocese of Killaloe. A replica of the historical altar, which was removed from the St Vincent de Paul Barn Church in Oatfield, in the 1960s, has made by local man Donal Ryan. The beautifully crafted piece was this week installed and blessed by Bishop Fintan Monahan. Donal’s daughter is to get married later this month at the church and in advance of the ceremony, he approached the Pastoral Council with a view to installing the altar. “It was a conincidence that we happened to draw down a grant that enabled us to the preparatory work, just at the right time,” said Michael Tynan, Pastoral Council representative and Oatfield church project co-ordinator. “Donal has great skill and we are delighted now to have the altar in place. The restoration of the church has involved an amazing community effort and …