NAAS, 14 August 2002: by Paddy Behan. Naas Parish Church, the Church of Our Lady and St David, will be 175 years old tomorrow (Thursday). The event will be celebrated with a special Mass and ceremony at 7.30pm, and an exhibition of artifacts and memorabilia associated with the church and parish will open afterwards. The picture above is from the Lawrence Collection, taken around the turn of the 19/20th centuries.
The one hundredth and seventy fifth anniversary of the blessing and opening of the Naas Parish Church of Our Lady and St David, is an appropriate time to look back on the history of the parish church and the changes which it has undergone over the years.
Naas was a very different place during the first half of the nineteenth century when the then Parish Priest of Naas, Father Gerald Doyle, with the blessing and approval of his parishioners, decided to build a new church on a site donated by the DeBurgh family. The foundation stone was laid in August 1925 by his illustrious namesake, Most Rev James Doyle, Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, the immortal "J.K.L." and two years later it was opened on 15th August 1827. The architect of the building is unknown.
It appears that Father Gerald Doyle was anxious maintain the Welsh/Naas connection when he chose the combined title of "Our Lady and St David" and it is interesting to note that this was also the title of the Augustinian Priory, founded in 1202 by Myler FitzHenry, natural son of King Henry 1 at Great Connall, Near where the present town of Newbridge now stands.
The entrance to the church at that time was from Abbeyfield. This explains why the main door of the church is at the west end. There were also two entrances at the Sallins Road end of the church. One of these was restored in the 1985 renovation. The outline of the other can be seen in the sacristy directly behind the present tabernacle. Whether these two entrances were there from the beginning or were installed at a later date is not clear. The frontage to the Sallins Road was acquired gradually by the parish over a long number of years.
The 200ft tower, Transitional Gothic in style was added over the years 1851-1858. It was designed by one of the best known Irish architects of the nineteenth century, J.J.McCarthy. The design is modelled on that of the fourteenth century Church of St. Andrew, Ewerby, Lincolnshire, England. .
Much of the interior arrangement was carried out in the 1860's. The rectangular columns of Oregon pine which supported the roof were overlaid to form the pillars which stand in the church today. The arches between the pillars and the series of traceried openings over them were executed at the same time. The beams of the roof were converted into a series of depressed arches spanning the width of the church. The walls were furnished with hand-carved yellow pine panelling which had to be removed in the 1985 renovation works because splits had appeared in many of the panels and rot in the supporting timber. Three confessionals in the same style were installed at the end of the church. These were reconstructed into the walls of the church in 1949.
An elaborate gothic canopy with pinnacles and niches in polychrome wood was constructed over the plain wooden altar. The cast statue of Our Lady and the carved statue of St. David which still stand in the church stood in niches on either side of the canopy. Small plaster figures of the apostles were placed in niches in the upper sections of the canopy.
It was at this time that the marble monument to Fr. Gerald I)Doyle was erected in the north aisle near his grave. Around the same time or in the early 1870's two annexes were added to the south side of the church - a baptistry and a tribune where the Sisters of Mercy took part in the Mass. After the renewed rite of baptism was introduced in 1970 the original baptistery was no longer in use. It is now one of the new confessionals. The font is relocated in the new baptistry. The annex, that contains the staircase to the gallery, was added in 1881.
The next major development took place in the first decade of the last century. Two side altars were erected in 1902 or thereabouts. In 1904 to 1908 the chancel, the present sacristy and a storeroom were built. That storeroom is now the porch at the restored Sallins Road entrance to the church. The chancel replaced a somewhat similar annex which stood at the same spot. A photograph from the turn of the century shows a door through the centre of the wall at the Sallins Road side of that annex. This seems to have been the entrance to the sacristy of the time.
The original wooden high altar had a gothic canopy, and stood on a spot close to where the present altar stands. It was taken out in 1902 and replaced by an altar made from Italian marble, which remained in position until the liturgical renewal, brought in by the Second Vatican Council, called for a different style of altar. A reredos (i.e. a high construction with a throne for exposing, the Blessed Sacrament which stood a few feet behind the marble altar) was installed at the same time.
Some parishioners recall that the throne on this reredos was removed later because it blocked the centre of the stained glass window behind it, but was restored after some time. Marble altar rails and a mosaic floor. Carpets specially woven for the altars at Naas Carpet Factory at a cost of £113.11s.0d were fitted in 1908. Further decoration of the sanctuary in marble and mosaic was carried out in 1941. The mortuary chapel was built in 1953-4 with stone from the old Naas jail,
Other developments in the church took place in stages over a number of years. The cut stone for the windows was supplied by Pearse of Dublin, father of Padraic Pearse, leader of the Rising of 1916 at a cost of £108. The Stained glass windows by famous makers, Tobin of Tours, Hardman of Birmingham and Mayer of Munich were installed at different times between 1887 and 1938. The original organ was situated on the main gallery but was transferred to the upper floor of the Tribune when that was built. That organ was replaced in 1840 and this second one was transferred to the tower on a floor level of the main gallery in 1908. The present choir gallery was built and the present organ installed in 1939. A pulpit carved from yellow pine was installed in the 1860's. This was replaced in 1941 By a gothic pulpit carved at Glenstall Abbey. Following the liturgical changes of Vatican II this was converted into a temporary altar and ambo in 1970s.
The church was solemnly consecrated on 4th October 1949 by Most Rev. Thomas Keogh, Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin, V.C.
The church was rededicated on the 8th of December 1985 by Most Rev. Laurence Ryan, following the completion of the most comprehensive renovation and restoration work in the life of the building. The church sanctuary has been totally renewed with the new travertine altar as its focal point, an ambo of bronze on a travertine base and a carved oak president's chair. A new blessed sacrament chapel is situated close to the sanctuary on the south side. A new roof and ceiling with the provision of roof lights, a new limestone floor, an extension with three new confession rooms, toilets, a new entrance was built on the south side.
The history of the Parish Church is a living history-of-change and development with changing times, needs and opportunities. It has undergone many renovations and changes during its one hundred and seventy years life of service to the priests and parishioners of the parish of Naas.
PARISH PRIESTS OF NAAS
The list of Parish Priests of Naas since the opening of the Church (1827) which is over the entrance on the south side at the rear, has been brought up to date. This entrance is now a wheelchair entrance to the Church.
The list reads:
V. Rev. G. Doyle 1810 - 1858
V. Rev. J. Hughes 1858 - 1876
V. Rev. T. Morrin 1876 - 1907
V. Rev. M. Norris 1907 - 1938
V. Rev. P.J. Doyle 1938 - 1962
V. Rev. P. Harris 1962 - 1980
Rt. Rev. L. Ryan 1980 - 1985 (now Bishop of Kildare & Leighlin)
V. Rev. M. Lennon 1985 (present esteemed pastor)
