The Diocese of Paisley Podcast

Cormac O’Hara speaks to Father Eoin Patten, Parish Priest.

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Stories, interviews, history, and more from the Catholic Diocese of Paisley, Scotland. New episodes published monthly.

Cormac O’Hara:

Hello, listeners. Today, I'm talking to Father Eun Patten, the parish priest at Saint Lawrence's Church in Greenock. Saint Lawrence's has recently undergone £150,000 of renovation works to bring it back to its former glory. The church, which is in east end of the town, was designed by the architect Jack Coia and opened in the 19 fifties after the original Saint Lawrence's was destroyed in the Greenock blitz. Now I've been to Saint Lawrence's many times and not only is the church majestic from the outside, a landmark that you can see from the Clyde, it is equally majestic inside built in the style of an upturned hull of a boat.

Cormac O’Hara:

But the grade a listed building has sewn up a few challenges during its refurbishment which we are going to hear about shortly. But it now looks spectacular from the vibrant red walls around the altar, which even has a sanctuary lamp in the shape of a ship to the white side chapels. I can recommend you take a trip to Saint Lawrence's for mass some time. Father Yoon is with me now. Thank you for agreeing to speak to me today about the renovation work at Saint Lawrence's.

Cormac O’Hara:

So firstly, when you took up your position as parish priest, can you tell me about your first impressions of the church and what you learned about its history?

Father Eoin Patten:

Sure. Well, I mean, it's a it's a magnificent church. It's a it's a beautiful church, but it needs quite a lot of work done to it. So it's quite a daunting task to take over being parish priest knowing that there was a a lot of work to be done, but it's such an incredible building that it it grows on you. And there's so many different wee bits and pieces of the the the building that kind of grow on you or jump out at you or you realize that there's something that you've never seen before in the architecture or one of the corners of the church or something like that.

Father Eoin Patten:

So although it was a it was a daunting task to take over and knowing there's a lot of work still to be done, nevertheless, it's I think it's a a job worthwhile doing because it's it's a a building that we want to protect and and maintain for for years to come for the diocese but also for the the the the people of Greenock.

Cormac O’Hara:

The design of the church, for example, the flat roofs may have contributed to the leaks, etcetera, that you inherited. Can you tell me about the process of the renovation works? Yeah. It is

Father Eoin Patten:

there are only 3 flat roofs. It's a huge building. There are only 3 flat roofs on it, but they're all in fairly crucial parts of the building. And obviously being a very exposed building in the the west of Scotland, it gets a lot of rain. And remedial works had been done on the the roofs over time, but it was clear that they had to be done properly and it meant stripping back what was already there on the flat roofs.

Father Eoin Patten:

Also lifting all the the lintel stones as well and the bricks to see what was in underneath them. So it was everything was stripped on the flat roofs. Then the the the guys who are interested in the architecture had were able to have a good look at the brick quirk which was then exposed and that gave them a better understanding of how the the whole building had had been built. But once everything was stripped back, the new lining put in the asphalt felt as well to to keep the watch out. And then we had a number of what we would call skylights, you know, windows and the roofs as well.

Father Eoin Patten:

They had to be replaced because they were letting in quite a lot of water. But, you know, so it was a big job, but now that it's been done, it's we're we're we're very happy with with with it.

Cormac O’Hara:

Saint Lawrence's is great list of building. I understand when it came to the plaster work, you needed to seek the expertise of specialists in limewater.

Father Eoin Patten:

Yes. That was quite interesting as I, I didn't realize that I would learn so much about building techniques that were used in in decades past. But when the the building was being built in the the early fifties, it was lime mortar that was used for for for the brickwork. It wasn't cement and lime mortar in the fifties was simply mixed by hand and not and and by eye so it wasn't really measured out. So the line mortar around the building varies I suppose just perhaps depending on how wet the day was when that particular part was done, maybe how the builders were feeling, how much line they wanted to put in in that day or whatever.

Father Eoin Patten:

So what happened was when when the limewater was being replaced, we had to send it away to Dundee where the Lime Water Trust exists. Who who knew there was such a thing as the the the Scottish Lime Trust but it it's it was examined there so that they could get the measurements right of how much lime there was in the mixture so that when we were replacing it, it would it would mix perfectly with with what was there. So that was quite interesting. Of course, it it does delay things as you see. It's a great day list of buildings.

Father Eoin Patten:

So you have to do all of these things properly. So we had to get the the Scottish Trust involved and and then they would examine it, but it took a long time and it just delays up it's delay upon delay. But eventually, when we were told what the mixture was for the the lime mortar, we then had to get the guys who were still capable of of doing lime mortar building work. And there are only 2 of them for Scotland. So we then had to arrange a time when they could come and do it, and they did the the work.

Father Eoin Patten:

They put on one layer and then it has to be allowed to to dry out surely for a fortnight. Then they come back and put on another layer. Again that then has to be allowed to dry out naturally for a fortnight and then they come back and do the the final layer. So it's 3 different layers of lime mortar all mixed exactly as the lime mortar trust had told them to do. So although it was time consuming and a bit irritating, it was fascinating to to as a as to be part of the process and to to see the guys putting the the layers on as well.

Cormac O’Hara:

So slowly, things have been taking shape. How's the work looking looking today, in particular the Holy Souls Chapel?

Father Eoin Patten:

Yeah. I mean, we're we're we're very happy with the the way it is looking. We've had well, with the the plaster work being done, the the roofs done, we we we're it's watertight below the flat roofs now. We've had some paint work done. Some of the original light fittings have been restored as well.

Father Eoin Patten:

So it's beginning to look a wee bit again the way the architect, Jack Coya, imagined it. So 2 of the the side altars are are looking a lot better than they used to the the smaller one to the Sacred Heart to the the left of the altar, the sanctuaries you're looking at it and then to the right, there's the the holy souls which is a slightly bigger side chapel. When when the church was built, the holy souls Chapel was used for when a body was received in the night before a funeral. The the body would lie in state as it were in the Holy Souls Chapel. Very fitting, of course.

Father Eoin Patten:

So that that's that that's, looking a lot better now. It's that that's where a lot of the the line mortar was was replaced. The lighting is much better in there. The the skylights in fact above the holy souls altar had all been they hadn't been filled in but they they the the felt had been placed over them. So there was no there was no light allowed in.

Father Eoin Patten:

So we replaced the the skylights properly so that the the holy soul's altar is now flooded by natural light. So it really it just it's it's looking, I think, a lot better than just the the the way coy I imagined the the the building to be.

Cormac O’Hara:

What has been the reaction of your parishioners? After I suspect much of the work has been carried out thanks to generosity to the building fund.

Father Eoin Patten:

Oh, yeah. I mean, the the the parishioners are very generous. I have to say there's there's no doubt about that. My my predecessors my immediate predecessor father, Andrew Coleman, God rest him. And his predecessor father, Gerry McNellis, had been very good at building up the the the building fund.

Father Eoin Patten:

So there there was money there to do the the the initial works, but the the money continues to come in with the the the building fund collections and with with various other different fundraising and activities. But we're we're we're hoping to to get some heritage lottery funding for more major work that still needs to be done on the building. But the the the people of the parish and the look beyond are are very generous. I have to say that it's and they're enthusiastic as well, of course, about the the work being done. I'd never quite realized how special the building of Saint Lawrence's was until I until I moved there.

Father Eoin Patten:

And then I discovered how much it meant to the parishioner, the history behind it and the the the architectural genius of the building. But also since I've been in Saint Lawrence's, I've also realized how much the building actually means to the the the people of Greenock in general, the town, not just the parishioners, but it's a landmark. You know, so if you're out on the Clyde, on the Waver or some other boat or ship and and you look towards Greenock, you know, Saint Lawrence stands out sitting there in the hill and it is a building that is truly loved by the people of Greenock. So, you know, the the the response of parishioners is terrific, but the response of the wider community and the interest from the local newspaper, the Canadian Telegraph has been has been, you know, quite heartwarming as well.

Cormac O’Hara:

I suspect there's still much work to be done. But are

Father Eoin Patten:

you happy you're preserving a piece of history for future generations? Oh, yeah. Definitely. I mean, I think that that's really the the the driving force, the driving idea behind everything is a desire to make sure that the this grade A listed building is, you know, maintained for for generations to come. It the the the Saint Lawrence's building replaced another church which was destroyed during the Greenock Blitz in May 1941.

Father Eoin Patten:

There were there were 2 nights that the Luftwaffe flew over in Ver Clyde and and blitzed the the area. And so the St. Laurence's church was was destroyed by it. So it then took quite a while for the the present building to to to be built. And the the the architect Jack Coy is quite a famous Scottish architect from Gillespie, Kidd and Coy, the company that he headed.

Father Eoin Patten:

And it's one of his masterpieces. There's an architect who we've got involved in the the the work that's going on. Who's an expert in Jack Coy and he just loves visiting St. Lawrences and seeing the architectural genius of Coya behind everything. So it's it's it's it's daunting that it's a great hay listed building.

Father Eoin Patten:

It does give me sleepless nights. You have to ask permission to put a nail in the wall almost but it's all the work, all the effort and the enthusiasm of of everybody is is is terrific and it's I think everybody realises that we want to to keep this this gem, you know, for for for people to to to worship God and for for for generations to come. Farajun, thank you very much. Pleasure. Thank you.

Father Eoin Patten:

God bless.