{"id":242274,"date":"2026-05-24T10:02:44","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/242274\/"},"modified":"2026-05-24T10:02:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T10:02:44","slug":"its-wonderful-to-be-back-renovated-oasis-for-catholics-at-queens-university-belfast-reopens-after-three-years-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/242274\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s wonderful to be back\u2019 \u2013 Renovated \u2018oasis\u2019 for Catholics at Queen\u2019s University Belfast reopens after three years \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Catholic Chaplain at Queen\u2019s University Belfast (QUB)<\/a> has said that it has been \u201cwonderful\u201d to welcome members back to their building after three years of renovations.<\/p>\n

The Catholic Chaplaincy<\/a> at the university has been at its current site on Elmwood Avenue for over fifty years but temporarily closed its doors in 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, it welcomed students, staff and visitors back inside the reimagined space, which now also includes accommodation spaces for 47 students. <\/p>\n

Read more: \u2018Special\u2019 Co Tyrone church marks 150 years<\/a><\/p>\n

\"‘It’s<\/a>\"Northern<\/a><\/p>\n

Speaking to The Irish News, Fr Dominic McGrattan<\/a> said that the building\u2019s reopening earlier this month marked the end of a \u201clong journey\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe building has been described as an ‘oasis’ for the community at Queen’s for generations PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very fortunate to have a building at the very heart of the historic campus,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it was built, it was a really bold statement; modernist architecture that really made an impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut over the years, it became a bit tired and needed renewal if it was to serve well the mission of the place, which is to provide faith and pastoral support to students and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr McGrattan added that with the addition of student accommodation, it opened an \u201cexciting new chapter\u201d for the chaplaincy, which previously had been \u201csomething of a day and evening service\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is wonderful to be back in this space and to see how transformed it is,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"TheDaily mass being celebrated in the newly refurbished chapel PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cI think for generations it has always been something of an oasis, a place for quiet time, a place to be restored and renewed and energised amidst the busyness and sometimes the challenge of university living.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the building, as it has been renewed, really does support that mission and it\u2019s lovely to have that oasis back at the heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr McGrattan added that the \u201cmost special part of the special building\u201d was The Lady Chapel, which now includes an altar crafted in Bethlehem and the reredos, depicting St Thomas meeting the Risen Lord, which was sculpted in the Dolomites and embellished in Florence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is here that we have that privileged encounter with God and the Mass is celebrated every day during term and it is a place where students and staff come to be spiritually nourished during their university journey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was important that we engage the best for this space; we engaged a liturgical art studio in Florence to provide the artistry and the craftsmanship, and they engaged artisans from across Europe and the Middle East.<\/p>\n

\"Queen'sFr McGrattan said that the stone for the altar came from Jerusalem and was carved in Bethlehem, while the reredos was carved in the Dolomites in northern Italy and embellished in Florence PICTURE: BRIAN LINCOLN <\/p>\n

\u201cThe altar itself, it was important for us to have that connection with the birthplace of Christ, and so we engaged stonemasons in Bethlehem and they used Jerusalem stone, the very stone that the temple itself was built with, and that was embellished by the Florentines.\u201d<\/p>\n

The chaplain added that they followed in the \u201cage-old tradition\u201d of the church being \u201cpatron of the arts\u201d, they also engaged local artists, including Co Antrim sculpter Eamonn Higgins, Hillsborough silversmith Cara Murphy and north coast glassmaker Scott Benson. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do think our physical spaces ought to be formative, they ought to lift the heart and mind to higher things and art certainly plays a huge role in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fr McGrattan said that the space was \u201copen to students, staff visitors of all faiths and none\u201d, with their new caf\u00e9 at the front of the building service the best teas, coffees, traybakes and hot lunches in south Belfast. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m competing with the Presbyterians next door on the traybake front,\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Catholic Chaplain at Queen\u2019s University Belfast (QUB) has said that it has been \u201cwonderful\u201d to welcome members…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":242275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[15970,4840,9,24,63,7475,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-242274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-belfast","tag-catholic-church","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queen-s-university","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}