Local History by Seán Beattie

Carndonagh, Church

Carndonagh Church Museum

Carndonagh oil lamp Carndonagh 1 carndonagh 3 fr Bonner Carndonagh 4 Carndonagh 6 Carndonagh 5 Fr Bonner

Today I visited one of Donegal’s smallest museums in the church at Carndonagh. Pictures show one of the beautiful oil lamps rescued from the old church. It is similar to the lamps in the Protestant church in Culdaff. Fr. Bonner is pictured with Eamonn de Valera outside Hopefield, home of the great business family of Binns but sadly this house was demolished some decades ago to make room for students in the Community School. The old work stations have survived behind the new building. Here people brought sewn-up shirts to be collected by Binns. See the Binns family in my book DONEGAL IN OLD PHOTOS on Amazon. There is a view of the town from the church door. A plaque stands in the church porch below a picture showing Fr Bonner beside a model of the church. The original model can be seen before the altar. The museum is open daily and there is  a steady flow of visitors. Pick up a free copy of the church brochure which I compiled at the entrance. It is not necessary to pay or pray to gain entry. This album is compiled to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the opening of the church in 1945. 

PS The Donegal Historical Society Museum in Rossnowlagh is very small but until I measure both, I cannot say which is the smallest.

2 Comments

  1. Betty Patch

    Enjoyed this very much, thanks Sean.

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