St Mary’s Church, Castlefin
The present church was dedicated on Sunday, 19 November, 1978, by Most Rev. Edward Daly, Bishop of Derry. It replaced the old St Mary’s, which had served the parish for exactly a hundred years. The site for the church was acquired in 1966, and it was decided to build a new church rather than to renovate the old one, which was considered too small, and would have been very costly to refurbish and adapt to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
The church is fan-shaped, with seating grouped around the sanctuary; it is designed to seat 650 people. The architect was Mr Charles Hegarty of Derry. Writing about the church, he says:
“The new St Mary’s has been designed to dominate the village of Castlefin. The site is
magnificent; a long gently sloping hill, lying along the main road; and the new building
has been located on the plateau at the top of the slope so that it becomes, in visual terms,
the most important building in Castlefin.”
The Tabernacle, the Paschal Candelstick, the Sanctuary Lamp and the marble carving of the Last Supper incorporated into the altar have all been taken from the old church.
The Tabernacle Surround depicts the Holy Spirit, with flames and the figure of the dove descending.
The large Sanctuary Cross is of teak, with a special enamel finish; the theme of the Cross is from Psalm 21 “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
The Stations of the Cross, on the back wall of the church, have the same enamel finish.
These elements are all the work of Mr Ray Carroll, Co. Dublin.
Another notable feature of the church is the Shrine of Mary, the Immaculate Queen. The statue of Our Lady is from Bois-le Roi in France, where there is a special devotion to the Queenship of Mary.
The church is approached through a small garden. This garden is designed as a quiet, spiritual, intermediate space between the church and the outside world, so that people entering the church may have a little time for reflection before entering the House of God. The garden includes a Calvary Group.
Substantial repairs to the roof of the church were carried out in the early 1990s, and in 2006 a new heating system was installed, the older blow-heaters being replaced by an oil-fired system.