A look back at the first newsletter from the Athnuachan Project from Autumn 2025:
Athnuachan: Weaving the Threads of Heritage, Faith, & Future
Welcome to the first edition of the St. Nicholas’ Project Newsletter, which we hope to share quarterly. This project has been in development for many years, but only in the past two years has it been formally recognised by the formation of the Project Team, which meets weekly to ensure the project is always moving forwards. Athnuachan (ahnooəkhən), the name chosen for this project, is Irish for renewal. We are keenly aware we are here now because of the 700 years of heritage, history, and culture we have inherited. These permeate every stone of the church. The space inside the church has evolved through the years to meet the needs of the times and it is now our turn to attend to the necessary repairs. We are stepping up to breathe new life into our historic building in order to safeguard what has been entrusted to us. Athnuachan will renew the church in ways that will allow it to live, breathe, and serve future generations. There are many important milestones and deliverables which have enabled the project to proceed to this point, such as The Conservation Management Plan, the Liturgical Statement, the establishment of the Rectors’ Liturgical Council, a Select Vestry workshop, becoming the recipients of substantial six figure grants, the trials at worship for interior layout for liturgy, parish feedback forms, and a workshop for worshippers.
A key part of this formal establishment has been the appointment of a full design team from McCullough Mulvin Architects to undertake a Stage 1 Concept Scheme for the overall development of the church building and site, which commenced in December 2022 and was completed in February 2024. Stage 1 of the project establishes the project scope and vision and also provides the
foundation for developing the first cost estimate. More recently, a number of strides forward have been made, including a presentation to the church community on the 6 of April, which sought to provide an update on the project and to seek further engagement in the lead up to the lodgement of the planning application for the new organ.
A site visit by the design team, McMullough Mulvin took place on the 18th of February 2025, followed by a presentation to the Diocesan Finance and Glebes Meeting on the 30th of April. A pre-planning meeting was then held with representatives of Galway City Council and the appointed design team at St. Nicholas Church on the 2nd of May. Planning permission for the new organ and removal of the existing organ has now been lodged with Galway City Council, which is an important step in securing the necessary statutory approvals before the purchase of the organ can progress. The permission is not limited to any specific organ builder in order to retain greater control over options. Through these newsletters, we hope to keep our community abreast of project progress. Our thanks to all those who continue to work tirelessly to bring Athnuachan forward, weaving the threads of heritage and faith, bringing our historic church safely into the future.
The Very Reverend Lynda Peilow
The Organ Replacement Project
The current organ, affectionately referred to as ‘Gertie’, has been on its last legs for some time and is now impossible to tune and maintain. The many reports commissioned by the church over recent years have recommended its replacement. A competitive process to identify the builder of a new organ has been held, concluding with the selection by the Select Vestry of the internationally renowned Dutch firm of Flentrop Orgelbouw. The Select Vestry has been guided throughout this process by their organ adviser, Dr. William McVicker. The new organ will stand in the north transept, from where it will be able to speak more directly into the nave and lead congregational singing. A comprehensive stop list will enable full and colourful accompaniment of the choir in the crossing, and as a landmark instrument in terms of quality and historically proven methods of construction, it will be a focus for teaching and performance locally, nationally, and internationally. The process of commissioning a new organ is a lengthy one, and we are still in the early stages. Planning permission to install the new instrument and remove the old one has recently been lodged. The focus now moves to fundraising and the business plan that will secure the necessary income to pay for it, as part of the Athnuachan restoration and renewal project.
The Conservation work on the South Transept
St. Nicholas’ has been blessed with the ongoing support of Galway City Council in undertaking a number of conservation measures as identified in the Conservation Management Plan. Over the past five years, St. Nicholas’ Church has received over €450,000 from Galway City Council. The recent work on the South Transept was carried out by specialist stone conservators Mathieu & Mitchell Ltd., under the expert supervision of Conservation Architect Fergal McNamara. The outcomes of the latest phase of work include: Protection of the existing building and archaeological heritage with hard cement mortars and coatings that endangered the medieval masonry removed. Coating the internal surface of the walls with limewash, reinstating the original wall treatment evident on the window margins and leaving the carved stone features uncoated, enhancing the architectural splendour of the south transept. Together, the lime mortars to the external surfaces, the interior limewash, and a future final lime plaster will allow the walls to dry out more efficiently and assist in the conservation of the stone carvings. Suitable mortars for future phases of repair have been determined and will set a standard of work to be followed.
Project Highlights over the next 3 Months:
Continued engagement with St. Patrick’s and Christ Church Cathedral
Site visit to other projects organised by McCullough Mulvin
Completion of Stage 1 Design from the design team
Development of preliminary cost estimate for the project based on Stage 1
outputs
Recruitment of fundraising team
The Design Team
Architects (and DT Lead): McCullough Mulvin
Structural & Civil Engineers: – O’Connor Sutton Cronin
Mechanical & Electrical: IN2
Planning Consultants: MKO
Fire Engineering: Michael Slattery & Associates
PSDP: AEGIS Safety
Archaeology: Claire Walshe
Landscaping: Dermot Foley Landscape Architects
The St. Nicholas Project Team are currently working with a number of
other parties who are critical to the advancement of the project
Declan Droney – Business Consultant
Fergal McNamara – Conservation Architect
Lynda Stopford, Siobhán Hanly and Gráinne O’Leary
Members of Failte Ireland, Diocesan Council, Galway City Council,
Representative Church Body
The Project Team- working under the authority of the Select Vestry
Fin Garvey (Chair)
The Very Reverend Lynda Peilow (Rector)
Reverend Alistair Doyle (Curate)
Mark Duley (Director of Music and Organist)
Brian Thornburgh (Diocesan nominee)
John Kennedy (Church Manager)
Roxanne Duncan
Sinéad Armstrong Anthony
Mary Liddy
For a full copy of the newsletter, including images, please contact info@stnicholas.ie