CV NEWS FEED // On Easter Monday, a fire broke out at the Church of the Sacred Heart in Dublin — the second Catholic church in Ireland to be affected by fire during the holiday weekend, following a serious incident in Derrybeg, County Donegal.
According to the Dublin Fire Brigade, the “breathing apparatus teams located and extinguished the fire and prevented any further spread.” The fire brigade also mentioned that they were able to ventilate the building.
According to Heritage Ireland, the Church of the Sacred Heart is the burial place of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, an armed rebellion of Irish Republicans seeking to end British rule in the country and establish a republic made on Easter Monday of that year.
Built in 1848, the Church of the Sacred Heart initially served as a chapel for inmates in a nearby military prison. In 1997, the church became the official Church of the Irish Defence Forces.
As CatholicVote previously reported, St. Mary’s Church in Derrybeg was the other church that burned April 21, experiencing much more significant damage than the Dublin church.
The Irish insurance risk management company Coiste Forbartha Dhobair Cuideachta Faoi Theorainn Ráthaíochta set up a fundraiser to rebuild the 1972 St. Mary’s church. The company reached its $50,000 fundraising goal within 24 hours.
As of this article’s publication, there has been no further information on the cause or extent of damage from the fire at the Church of the Sacred Heart.
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