The Friends of the Church of Our Lady Star of the Sea and St. Maughold

The church today and tomorrow

Very quickly Father O Mahony established that the process of conservation is never-ending. There was now serious work needed to the roof and the balustrades. The walls and iron railings surrounding the church also needed attention. Further investigation revealed that work would soon be needed in other areas of the structure of the building. At the same time, the original plans for a community hall to be built had fallen through.

Examination of the finances revealed that the parish was running at a loss, with the collections failing to collect sufficient funds for the running of the parish, and with other fund-raising efforts being inadequate to the task. The first task, however, was to effect the necessary repairs. These were taken in hand in 2000, and by 2001, the roof and balustrades were secure.

The second task was to raise funds to pay for these repairs. This too was addressed, with a programme of increasing the awareness of the congregation to the need to increase income. A fund raising programme was launched to raise funds for the on-going conservation and renovation of fabric of the church, and this together with a Government grant, enabled the costs of the repairs to the roof and balustrades to be met.

However, although the immediate needs have been addressed, it was felt that there was a need for the fund raising efforts to be more widely based, bearing in mind that the Church is not only the place of worship of the Catholic community in the north of the Isle of Man, but is also a building of outstanding merit and beauty irrespective of its location and dedication.
 

Ninety Years Since Index The Friends