29.09.2014
Old Stables Get New Lease of Life in Whitechurch Parish
Parishioners of Whitechurch celebrated the official opening and dedication of their new parish facility on Saturday morning (September 27). The Stables, which dates from 1827, has been beautifully reconstructed and extended to create a centre for parish and school activities.
The ceremony was carried out by Archbishop Michael Jackson following a short service in the nearby church.
After the service, the Rector, Canon Horace McKinley spoke about the project which was made possible by a bequest from a parishioner, the late Edna O’Flynn, after whom the main room in The Stables is named.
He paid tribute to all who were involved in the work on the building project and the new management committee which will run the facility.
Canon McKinley said the church was consecrated for public use on June 3 1827 by the then Archbishop of Dublin, William Magee. He wondered if Archbishop Magee’s horse, or horses from his carriage, were tethered in the newly constructed stables on that day.
He presented Archbishop Jackson with one of the old metal rings to which horses had once been tethered in The Stables. Some of the rings had been rescued from the building during the construction work and restored by parishioner, Reg Richards. But the Rector noted that he was “conscious that in your necessarily rapid moving around your Dioceses in the twenty first as opposed to the early nineteenth century, you use a very different mode of horse–power today”.
Before dedicating The Stables, Archbishop Jackson said it was wonderful to hear the story of Edna O’Flynn and how her generosity made the work possible. He said the building made the gathering of the community easier and meant that the range of work the parish had been fortunate to carry out was enabled to grow and grow.
Photo captions:
Top – Archbishop Michael Jackson cuts the ribbon for the newly reconstructed and extended Stables buildings.
Bottom – The Stables.