A recent renovation project we undertook was St. Mary's Church, Clonmany. This freestanding five bay double height church, built around 1814 was in need of a large renovation to preserve its integrity and structure.
The roof timbers were in satisfactory condition but large areas of slates needed replacing, which we carried out using large celtic bangor blue slates. This also entailed large elements of lead work to be renewed along valleys and around the 17m high bell tower.
The substantial stained glass windows were also destined for some attention as quite a number had large structural displacements and needed a full makeover, which involved the removal off site for specialist treatment.
The external stone work to the bell tower also needed refreshing. The existing pointing was duly removed and re pointed as was necessary to weatherproof and sustain its integrity by Mr John Doherty. The existing external render in large sections of the building was defective and allowing water to enter the church , this was also removed and re- applied.
The existing concrete footpath entry to the church was also removed and reinstated as part of the groundworks undertaken.
The entire building both inside and out was repainted, with the existing cast guttering being cleaned and treated with "belzona" to ensure no leaks would form at junctions.
Many other smaller items were also remedied during our 9 month project which was a joy to work on, with the official re-opening taking place in November 2019 and officiated by the Bishop of Derry, the most reverend Donal Mc Keown DD.
