THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST. MICHAEL'S
Hackett's Cross, Clogherhead,
County Louth.

In 1853 the Rev. Father Richard Everard* arrived in Clogher on his appointment as the new parish priest, probably charged with the express task of building a new church on the site of the old wooden chapel, situated at the junction of four roads - one to Clogher, the next leading to Castleco Hill and Callystown, then north to Walshestown and Dunleer and finally the old coast road along the Big Strand to Port and Dunany, clearly a prominent position.

As a parish priest whose term of office lasted a mere ten years, the Rev. Richard Everard achieved the dream of many a priest, to build a church. A man of great drive and energy he soon started to raise funds and must have been immediately successful, because within a short time an architect, named John Murray, was commissioned to design the new building.

He was a young man at the time and relatively inexperienced, but later went on to design many fine buildings in and around Dundalk, such as Dundalk Exchange and Market Company Building (later to be Dundalk Town Hall) in in 1857 and St.Columbeille's R.C. Church, Togher in 1866, amongst others.

Churches at the time were identified by their location rather than a personalised name, hence the name Hackett's Cross church, dedicated to St. Michael.

The new church was to be built by local labour and local stone, which was quarried near the The Fethis, loaded onto yawls and then rowed to the Big Strand. These yawls were 32-feet long shallow clinker-built craft and rowed by at least four oarsmen, transporting the stones from the quarry to the Big Strand in this way was a tribute to the goodwill and commitment of the local community. Any parishioners who were able, would help unload the boats, and farmers would lend their carts to haul the stones and rocks up to the site of the new chapel, where they were stockpiled and dressed (shaped) by the local stonemasons.

The stonemasons charged with building the church belonged to a Clogherhead family named Cassidy, the descendants of whom live in the parish to this day.

In order that parishioners could continue to attend mass whilst the new chapel was being built, it was constructed in such a way that it surrounded the old chapel, so that the use of the original building continued until the last possible moment and, in the interim, many parishioners attended Mass at Bryan King's Barn on the Big Strand.

Local folklore says the chapel was built between two showers - raining on the day the old chapel was vacated and raining again on the day the new building was consecrated.

The conventional design of the church has its own innate grace, enhanced by the admirable stained glass windows (which replaced the original mullioned windows), the simple statues and the imposing Stations of the Cross, together with the beautiful pitch?pine beams in the roof.

Many of the decorative items have been donated by parishioners, or relatives of deceased parishioners in memory of their loved ones. All these items have added to the warmth and charm of the church.

At the rear there is a tiered gallery, which houses the organ, and is accessed by a narrow winding stairway. This gallery gives a fine view over the whole church and displays it at its best.

The highly polished wooden pews and balustrades indicate the care devoted to the building by the parishioners.

The Bell Tower at the side of the building was added in 1938, constructed by Mr. Frank Carroll, a builder from Cartown, together with Mr. Colman, an architect from the Dublin firm of McCormack & Mason. The new bell was made in Dublin and bears the inscription "O'Byrne, Bell Founder, Dublin, 1937" and blessed by the Reverend Monsignor O'Callaghan, Parish Priest of St. Peter's Drogheda on Friday evening 6th May, 1938. A sermon was preached by Monsignor O'Callaghan on the 15th August, 1938, when a collection was made and the Bell was put into commission.

The Minton-style tiled centre aisle was a later addition which replaced the old timber floor in the 1930's and the inner porch at the rear is a very practical structure within a church built in such an exposed location.

The new cut-stone porch with solid wooden doors, completed in 2002, provides an elegant and natural addition to the whole building.

On the 29th February, 1980, a total refurbishment of the whole building was undertaken, walls and timbers were sandblasted and many major works undertaken. This work took over three months to complete and leaves the beautiful and well-maintained building we see today.

Since the church was first built all those years ago, successive incumbents have made alterations and additions to the original design to accommodate changes in the Mass and the modern day use of the building and it can only be said that these changes have done nothing but improve the original structure and are a credit to the sensitivity with which the work was undertaken.

The Church of St.Michael's holds a special place in the memories of the people of Clogherhead for diverse reasons and this beautiful church is a tribute to the care and devotion given by the custodians and the parishioners over the last one hundred and fifty years.

K. O’Brien Briggs
30th June, 2003

*see The Rev. Father Richard Everard,
by Liam Mac Ragnaill
30th June, 2003