-This is my first report, so I hope I've done it right!
History
St Brigid's was Portumna's original Catholic church before the current one was built in the 1950s. It dates from 1828, but because this was before full Catholic Emancipation in Ireland (when it became legal for Catholics to sit for parliament and thus removed a lot of stigma around open Catholic worship) the original building was plainer, with the Gothic towers and mock battlements added around 1858 along with a new porch.
Attached to the church was a wing of the St Joseph's Convent. There are more convent buildings across the road, these ones built towards the end of the 19th century as a domestic training school for local girls- some now converted into apartments but many also derelict.
The convent school was still open into the 1970s, but St Brigid's stopped being used as a church in the late 50s. It was then used as a sports hall until the 90s (judging by the graffiti), when it was closed up entirely. It has since been stripped and vandalised in places by local teens, with few ecclesiastical details remaining.
The Explore
Access was pretty easy, but it is in the very centre of town so highly visible, with a street at the front and a car park at the back. We looked around the main nave of the church, pretty much unrecognisable as a place of worship, and had to turn the torch on inside the convent building as all the windows were boarded up. The whole place was rotting and a bit dodgey on the floors and stairs. Not many artefacts or anything around, although we did find someone's stash of party beers
The graveyard is also locked off to the public and pretty interesting, with an overgrown mausoleum and some creepy statues. Most of the graves seem to be 19th century.
Photos
Sorry for the quality, had some downloading issues :/
Then and now-
The church when in use sometime in the 20th century...
And now...
The interior then...
And now...
Remnants of the sports hall: hoop and changing rooms
Clues from the church itself buried beneath the plasterboard walls:
Into the convent
Back outside
Overall a nice little explore (pretty creepy up in the convent!).
Would appreciate any feedback!
History
St Brigid's was Portumna's original Catholic church before the current one was built in the 1950s. It dates from 1828, but because this was before full Catholic Emancipation in Ireland (when it became legal for Catholics to sit for parliament and thus removed a lot of stigma around open Catholic worship) the original building was plainer, with the Gothic towers and mock battlements added around 1858 along with a new porch.
Attached to the church was a wing of the St Joseph's Convent. There are more convent buildings across the road, these ones built towards the end of the 19th century as a domestic training school for local girls- some now converted into apartments but many also derelict.
The convent school was still open into the 1970s, but St Brigid's stopped being used as a church in the late 50s. It was then used as a sports hall until the 90s (judging by the graffiti), when it was closed up entirely. It has since been stripped and vandalised in places by local teens, with few ecclesiastical details remaining.
The Explore
Access was pretty easy, but it is in the very centre of town so highly visible, with a street at the front and a car park at the back. We looked around the main nave of the church, pretty much unrecognisable as a place of worship, and had to turn the torch on inside the convent building as all the windows were boarded up. The whole place was rotting and a bit dodgey on the floors and stairs. Not many artefacts or anything around, although we did find someone's stash of party beers
The graveyard is also locked off to the public and pretty interesting, with an overgrown mausoleum and some creepy statues. Most of the graves seem to be 19th century.Photos
Sorry for the quality, had some downloading issues :/
Then and now-
The church when in use sometime in the 20th century...
And now...
The interior then...
And now...
Remnants of the sports hall: hoop and changing rooms
Clues from the church itself buried beneath the plasterboard walls:
Into the convent
Back outside
Overall a nice little explore (pretty creepy up in the convent!).
Would appreciate any feedback!
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