The Long Tower

[Reda]

Thepresent church is built on the site of Roman Catholic worship which goes back as far as the 12th century. The current Long Tower Church began life in 1783 in a much smaller scale than seen today. Father John Lynch, a parish priest in Derry started action to raise funds for building the Long Tower Church and he received finance not just from Roman Catholics but also Protestant people in Derry at the time. The church was opened in 1788.

The church was extended and refurbished in 1810 with the introduction of gallery seating, nave and the changing of the Altar to the northern side of the church. The High Altar was constructed with marble and supported by four pillars. The four pillars were first made of wood put proved to be not strong enough to hold the large and heavy marble altar and so the pillars were changed to be made out of marble. The layout of the church from 1810 onwards has remained largely unaltered. However, in 1908 a full refurbishment of the Long Tower took place which included addition of new stained-glass windows, statues, shrines, baptismal font and the reposition of the High Altar and the introduction of a new sacristy.

On the morning of 8 January 1934 a perimeter wall of the cemetery, facing Lecky Road, collapsed, causing a landslide of a section of the graveyard. No passers by were injured in the slide but many graves were dislodged, causing bodies to be strewn among the debris. The Lecky Road has been remodelled in the decades since but the area where the graveyard collapsed can still be seen from the Lecky Road flyover.[3]

Many parishioners in Derry City feel that the Long Tower is the home of Catholicism in Derry.[citation needed] The construction of St Eugene's Cathedral in 1873 as the mother church of the diocese didn't change people's feelings for the Long Tower.[citation needed]

When Vatican II changes in liturgy occurred in the 1960s, Long Tower priests and parishioners did not want to change the layout too much as Council documents did not mandate changes to church sanctuaries.[4] In 1964, a temporary wooden altar was constructed and installed in the sanctuary to accommodate Mass being said facing the people. In 1979 the wooden altar was taken out and a new marble altar along with a new marble lectern and celebrants ambo were installed. The installation was minor to ensure the remainder of the church stayed. When other churches at this time were removing altar rails, High Altars, confessional boxes etc., the Long Tower did not. In 2012, the celebrant's marble ambo was removed from the sanctuary and the marble was used to create a brand new celebrant's chair in the sanctuary.

In the Diocese of Derry clergy appointments for 2010 significant changes were made by then-Bishop of Derry Samus Hegarty, the Long Tower parish would have to share an administrator due to a priest shortage in the diocese. Father Michael Canny, administrator of St Eugene's Cathedral, became administrator of Long Tower. The previous administrator of Long Tower, Father Roland Colhoun, was appointed curate to the Derry parish of Glendermott. Father Gerard Mongan CC remained as the Long Tower curate. The new changes took effect on 27 August 2010.

From October 2013, the Long Tower parish was given independent status once again. Father Edward Gallagher was appointed administrator, with Father Brendan Collins as curate. The Bishop of Derry, Most Reverend Donal McKeown is the Parish Priest of the Templemore Parish of the Long Tower and St Eugene's Cathedral.

In September 2016, the diocese announced a large number of priest changes made by Bishop McKeown. The Long Tower bid farewell to Fathers Eamon Graham and Brendan Collins. Father Aidan Mullan was appointed the new administrator of the Long Tower Parish. Due to a shortage of priests in the diocese, Bishop McKeown felt the Long Tower could cope with just one resident priest, with help from the neighbouring cathedral parish when necessary.[7]

On Friday September 10th 2021, it was announced by the Long Tower Parish and the Diocese of Derry that the Long Tower administrator Father Aidan Mullan had died. His remains were moved to his home parish of Omagh, County Tyrone, where he was buried after a Requiem Mass.[8][9][10][11]

On Saturday 20 August 2022, Bishop McKeown announced clergy appointments in the diocese. He appointed Father Gerard Mongan as administrator of the Long Tower parish. Father Mongan returns to the Long Tower parish after a nine year absence, as Father Mongan was curate in the Long Tower from 2007 to 2013. Father Patrick Baker was appointed to the parishes of Burt, Inch & Fahan, and Buncrana as curate.[14]

On Sunday 1 October 2023, Bishop McKeown appointed the newly ordained Father Stephen Ward to serve as curate in the Long Tower parish. This would be the first time since 2016 that the Long Tower parish has two diocesan priests serving it.

On Thursday, 23 March 2017, the Long Tower Church became the focus point for the Funeral Mass of Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness (Sinn Fin), who died on 21 March 2017, aged 66. The Mass was held on Thursday, 23 March 2017, in the Long Tower Church. The principle celebrant was Father Michael Canny, assisted by Father Aidan Mullan (administrator of the Long Tower), Father Christopher McDermott and Donal McKeown (Roman Catholic Bishop of Derry).

In attendance at the Funeral Mass were former US President Bill Clinton, Irish President Michael D. Higgins, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, Northern Ireland's First Minister Arlene Foster, along with a large number of dignitaries which included representatives of the British government, former Irish Prime Ministers, Mary McAleese (former Irish President), representatives of the Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, members and former members of Irish and Northern Irish political parties, as well as members of the general public. McGuinness was later buried in the republican plot in Derry's City Cemetery.[15][16][17][18][19][20]

The church celebrated its centenary on St Columba's Day, 9 June 2009. The clergy set aside the 9th day of each month from 9 June 2008 until 9 June 2009 to finish many renovations and repairs to the church. Since June 2008, the church has had a memorial installed dedicated to a former Bishop of Derry, Raymond O'Gallagher, who was martyred in 1601 in Claudy, County Londonderry, water fonts in the balcony area of the church repaired, the old water font next to Our Lady's grotto repaired, the tablets on the church floor which gives visitors information of where the High Altars where originally placed repaired, renovation of statues and the unveiling of the renovated tomb of former Bishop of Derry, John Keys O'Doherty.

Starting on Monday 17 November 2008, the three grand panels of the High Altar in the Long Tower Church, which depict Christ ascending into heaven flanked on either side by Saint Peter and Saint Paul, were taken down and transported to Belfast for urgent repair and renovation. The panels are made of lead and a recent expert survey concluded that they were dangerous and were in urgent need of repair. The panels were installed in the Long Tower Church in 1909 and had not had any renovation work carried out on them since their installation. The repair work could not be done on site in Derry and had to be taken to Belfast. The project cost the parish around 20,000 and had been many months in planning.[23]

A special Mass to commemorate the centenary was celebrated on 9 June 2009 with then-Papal Legate, Cardinal Keith O'Brien attending. This Mass was celebrated on the feast day of Saint Columba, while the church's anniversary had occurred on Saturday 30 May 2009. At 8.00 a.m., a Latin Mass was celebrated in the church which, apart from minor changes such as the addition of the mention of Saint Joseph in the canon of the Mass in 1962, was exactly the same as was said on the first day the church was opened to the public in 1909. After the evening Mass on Tuesday 9 June 2009 the annual blessing of Saint Columba's well occurred, which is located a short distance from the church in the Bogside. The following day before Mass, Cardinal O'Brien planted an oak tree in the graveyard next to the Long Tower as a symbol of the renovation of the graveyard for the centenary.[24]

It was announced on 23 August 2009 that the current Long Tower parochial house would now become the home of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal who are setting up a community in Derry. They have chosen the Long Tower Parochial House for their residence. This means the parish priests and staff will move their parochial house to the Convent of Mercy in Pump Street, which is located within the city walls of Derry. The sisters who had resided in the convent for 161 years have moved out to new residence and so the Long Tower will use this new city centre location as their new parochial house. Details of the move were published in the parish's Sunday bulletin on 23 August 2009.

It was announced in June 2016 that extensive renovation work would take place to the interior of the church during the summer. Details were published in the parish bulletin which read - "We are delighted to announce that works to the Church are beginning this week. These works will include internal painting of the whole Church, refurbishment of the internal and external lighting and restoration and repair of all the windows. These works will last until the end of September and have been scheduled so as to cause the minimum amount of disruption." Updates on the progression of the renovations and repairs are updated on the parish website and on the parish Facebook page.[28][29]

In November 2017, the administrator of the parish, Father Aidan Mullan revealed that extensive repair and renovation work was needed on the stonework of the church, which was in dire need of repair. The fabric of the stonework is fading away, with many parts of the stonework falling to bits. A special prize draw entitled SOS Save Our Stonework was launched and by May 2018 sufficient money was raised for repair and restoration work to commence. The project will take place in stages, with different parts of the church's exterior repaired and restored at different times. The whole restoration work was estimated to be completed by 2020 at a total cost of 400,000.[30][31]

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