Strabane locals tap into their creative sides

MEMBERS of the Heritage Restoration Team at the Church of the Immaculate Conception recently embraced their artistic sides when they took part in an innovative painted glass workshop.

Held as part of the church’s latest project – Sacred Treasures: Restoring, Illuminating, Cataloguing and Maintaining – the event was held in Strabane’s arts and crafts hub, The Painted Pig on Friday and saw members given the opportunity to put their own colourful spin on glassware.

Ostensibly, those taking part were given pictures of the stained glass windows at the Church of the Immaculate Conception and we’re then encouraged to get creative, with some truly spectacular colourful ‘windows’ produced.

CHURCH

An iconic sight on the Strabane skyline, the Church of the Immaculate Conception has been an intrinsic part of Strabane’s fabric since its consecration in 1895. A project is now underway to ensure that windows of the building, in critical need of repair, are restored to their former glory. This is also the first in a series of community activities that will be delivered over the next six months.

Volunteers at the painted glass workshop had a great time. Patricia McCallion commented, “I’m really enjoying the day, it’s a lovely opportunity to get together and get creative.”

Carmel Ui Fearghail added, “Brilliant! We’re all loving the day; so relaxing. The setting is perfect and Sharon (at The Painted Pig) is always so welcoming, it’s a great turn out.”

PROJECT

Project manager with the Church of the Immaculate Conception’s restoration team remarked that the ongoing works are “built around the community.”

She explained, “So many different things need to be done to the church and we prioritised the roof, drainage and guttering. Once that was done, we then turned our attention to the windows, focusing on the two most critically damaged windows at the back of the church and the stonework which surrounds them. There are actually holes in the windows where you could stick your fingers through and storm glazing, which was added a few years’ ago has only accelerated the windows’ decline. We have to get the windows taken out completely and entirely re-leaded, which should take around 16 weeks to complete, costing around the £400,000 mark.

“A lot of planning has gone into our programme of activities, and we are delighted to see this first one, a fun interactive workshop, drawing attention to the aims of our award winning project, and bringing local people together to learn relevant new skills. We want to thank the National Lottery Heritage fund, National Churches Trust and all our funders for their generosity.”

Volunteer and events co-ordinator with the project Mary Bonnar offered, “Following on from today, on Saturday people are invited to take a tour of the stained glass windows in both the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Christ Church in the Bowling Green. In addition we’re aiming to have a photographic competition before Easter open to everyone, inviting people to take photographs of anything to do with the chapel, and then embark on collaborations with pupils from Holy Cross College and community groups like Strabane Community Project and Strabane Health Initiated Project.

“The support from the community has been wonderful; we are getting people invested in the project from all over the world thanks to the exposure on our Facebook page. People are interested in the church and want to see it maintained for future generations.”