The "only church in Christendom" to be named after a lay person is falling down. The Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church, named after the liberator who was born at Carhan, Caherciveen, Co Kerry, in 1775 will need a €5 million restoration programme if it is to be saved, a meeting in Caherciveen, has heard.
It was "no ordinary church", said Leonard Hurley, one of those leading the restoration programme. Papal approval had to be sought for the building and in the late 1870s, Pope Leo XIII not only approved but presented a block of marble from the catacombs in Rome, to serve as a foundation stone.
A recent report by a team of architects and engineers had outlined several works including the need to re-point all the granite stonework, to repair the windows and erect rainwater guttering.
The roof in particular needed urgent attention in what is now a listed building, the experts found.
The restoration committee had looked at a greenfield site, but "this is the only church in Christendom called after a lay person" and was a memorial to one of Ireland's outstanding people, Mr Hurley said.
Parish priest Canon Eoin Mangan, chairman of the restoration committee, said there was a strong local attachment to the church.
Priests from the parish had fund-raised for its erection in Australia and in the US in the late 1880s and Caherciveen was once again issuing a "worldwide appeal".
George Ashlin, a pupil of the well-known architect Pugin, had designed the church which can hold 800 people.
Bishop of Kerry, Dr Bill Murphy, launched the appeal. Around €500,000 has been collected so far.