Photo: April 2025, the charred remains of St Mary\u2019s Church, Derrybeg. Photo credit: Bob Keaty<\/p>\n
Derry-based Mullarkey Pedersen Architects are set to be appointed to design the new Teach Pobail Mhuire of Doir\u00ed Beaga, after the original church was destroyed in a fire in April.<\/p>\n
The firm traces its roots back to Liam McCormick, who founded his original practice with Frank Corr in 1962. The practice evolved over the years and was honoured with numerous design awards, including the RIAI Gold Medal for St Aengus\u2019 Church in Burt, Co. Donegal. Liam McCormick designed seven churches in Donegal throughout the 60s and 70s.<\/p>\n
The upcoming appointment of Mullarkey Pedersen Architects was made possible after formal approval was given by the Bishop\u2019s Office to move forward with the construction.<\/p>\n
Parish Priest Fr Brian \u00d3 Fearraigh said: \u201cI am hopeful, and very confident, that we now have the best architectural team available to us to undertake this sacred work. Mullarkey Pedersen Architects are widely respected for their thoughtful and innovative approach to church design, and they have shown, time and again, a deep understanding and strong experience in ecclesiastical architecture.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am especially grateful to Monsignor Kevin Gillespie, Diocesan Administrator, for keeping the Irish Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference informed of our project, and for guiding the process through the Diocesan Building Commission, the proper channel through which the Church\u2019s authority and permission must come for the building of a new church.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gweedore Parish held a public consultation on the new church project to invite the views of the community.<\/p>\n
This process brought up support for the proposed church shape and layout, particularly if it broadly reflects the former Teach Pobail Mhuire. A dedicated quiet prayer space within the main building was strongly requested as well as an appropriate space for children and young people that remains connected to the main church.<\/p>\n
There was strong agreement that the new building must meet modern standards, including full accessibility, internal toilets, effective heating and high energy efficiency.<\/p>\n
The parish is now awaiting contracts to formally appoint the architects and gain a clear project timeline.<\/p>\n
They will now begin preparing the insurance claim, which will be the main funding source.<\/p>\n
More than \u20ac460,000 was raised through donations in the aftermath of the blaze.<\/p>\n
Fr \u00d3 Fearraigh confirmed that no money has been spent from the fundraising account, Ciste Mhuire, and the current balance now stands at \u20ac466,630.<\/p>\n
He concluded by saying,\u201dAs we move forward, we do so with hope, and we look forward to working closely with Mullarkey Pedersen Architects as we shape the vision for the future of Teach Pobail Mhuire. Their task will be to design and deliver a modern place of worship \u2013 Teach Pobail Mhuire \u2013 an inspiring, practical, and welcoming sacred space; a spiritual home that will serve our parish community for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Architects chosen for Teach Pobail Mhuire rebuild was last modified: December 15th, 2025 by Staff Writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo: April 2025, the charred remains of St Mary\u2019s Church, Derrybeg. Photo credit: Bob Keaty Derry-based Mullarkey Pedersen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":193061,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-193060","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-artsdesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193060","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193060"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193060\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}