| The present Church was
built by Rev. Canon Peter Farrelly between 1868 and 1873. The Architect of the
Church was Mr. Colbe and on his death Mr. Hague. When it was opened for worship
on Sept. 24th 1873, the preacher being the famous Dominican Fr. Tom Burke.
Cardinal Cullen was in attendance at the invitation of his friend and former
Secretary Dr. Conroy bishop of Ardagh. The distinguished guests were later
entertained in the Manor House. The next parish priest Rev. Daniel Gray
completed the building and erected the present parochial residence. The final
touches to the new church were carried out by his successor Canon Terence Martin
who added the tower and steeple in 1909. The tower has a carved stone with the
date A.D. 1872. Canon Martin introduced the Sisters of Mercy into the parish in
1900. St. Elizabeth's N.S. has a stone at its base bearing the year of erection
1905. An earlier chapel stood between the present church and the grounds of the
parochial house where the tombstone of its founder Fr. Thomas McCormick who died
in 1811 can still be seen. It was he who obtained the site from Richard Lovell
Edgeworth and built the chapel in 1787. It succeeded a penal "Mass-house"
where a strange accident was recorded in Faulkner's Dublin Journal of 31st
December 1749. It appears that during mass some mischievous person outside cried
"fire". In the resulting confusion of people trying to get out the
wall gave way in several places and part of the roof fell in. 1 killed, 2
mortally bruised upwards of 20 crushed and many severely hurt. This Mass-house
was in itself considered to be a great improvement on the earlier Mass rock, the
site of which is not known. In a report of 1744 Laurence Byren or Burn is given
as "vicar of the parish of Masstrym". An inscribed chalice dated l732
bears his name. Another eminent churchman who served as parish priest in
Edgeworthstown was Dr. Peter Flood. who was educated on the continent and was
professor of theology in the University of Paris and had been bursar of the
Irish College or College of the Lombards before the revolution. He also held the
important post of Royal Professor of Theology in the College de Navarre, which
office he left in 1791. One year later he was fortunate to escape death during
the September massacres and returned to Ireland in 1793 to Mostrim but 5 years
later he was summoned to Maynooth to become its second president. There also he
ran into trouble this time "labour trouble" as it was very difficult
to get tradesmen to carry out additional building at the College. This was due
to the troubled state of the country the United Irishmen being very active in
parts of Kildare in that year of l798. He died in January 1803 and is buried on
the north side of the College Chapel. He succeeded Fr. John O'Rorke (already
referred to ) in 1793 and was contemporary with the Abbe Edgeworth in Paris
during the revolutionary years. |
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