06.05.2025
Blessington Union Cooks Up a Storm for Church Restoration Fund
Blessington Union of Parishes received huge support for their first fundraising event in aid of the restoration of St John’s Church, Ballymore Eustace on Thursday May 1.
The parish welcomed celebrity chef, Neven Maguire to Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort for a cooking demonstration which launched the major restoration project for St John’s.
The renowned chef and his highly professional team presented a spectacular cookery demonstration in front of an enthusiastic crowd of over 400 attendees.
Nevin absolutely wowed the audience, as did Aisling Giltrap–Mills who was the MC for the night. Aisling’s incredible sense of humour quickly set the scene for what was to come – a thoroughly relaxing and good humoured approach to good food, cooked beautifully.
It wasn’t difficult to see why Neven has such a loyal group of followers. His easy manner and friendly disposition, combined with his exceptional skill as a chef, had everyone engaged from the very beginning.
Before the cookery demonstration began, Neven took time to browse around the selection of artisan’s stalls in the courtyard of Tulfarris, chatting with the stall–holders and checking out their produce.
The Stall–holders included: Hollywood Cheeses, Grá Arán, Bread, The Birds and the Teas, Miena’s Nougat, Russborough Honey, Pistachio, Cool Swan, Caffrey’s Sauces, Wicklow Way Wines, Durt Birds Soap, Russborough Shop, Bloda Bella Bees and AIB Blessington.
To the delight of the fundraising team, the enormous goodwill and support for this project from the wider community in the Blessington, Ballymore and surrounding area was evident on the night.
Fr Joe Connolly from the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Ballymore Eustace and Fr Gerry Kane from the Church of Our Lady Parish in Blessington were in attendance, along with many of their parishioners. Public representatives were also in evidence.
St John’s is a beautiful church of the ‘First Fruits’, which was built in1820. It is nestled in the trees on a hill just outside Ballymore Eustace and holds a very special place in the hearts of so many who live in the area.
The church is situated close to the site of a medieval church which dates back to 1192. The graveyard contains important High Crosses and ancient grave slabs. Inside the building, there is a large 12th century granite font which is thought to originate from the earlier medieval church.
St John’s is home to a stone effigy of a knight, Thomas FitzEustace who died in 1454. It is thought to have been brought to the church for safekeeping in 1919 from Old Kilcullen.
There are several spectacular stained glass windows attributed to Drake, Hardman and Powell, including a vivid depiction of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane in the Sanctuary, thought to be the only depiction of its kind in the country.
The Restoration work, which is due to commence this summer, will be carried out over a series of phases and will include roof and structural repairs, heating system upgrades, external wall restoration and stained glass window conservation.
The Revd Niall Stratford and the St John’s Restoration Project team are deeply grateful to Neven Maguire and Tulfarris Hotel & Golf Resort for their extraordinary generosity. Huge thanks also go to their sponsors and to everyone who came and supported this most successful and entertaining of fundraising events.
