THE iconic brass door of St Patrick's Presbytery in Belfast city centre was removed yesterday to undergo major refurbishment.
The magnificent front door will be restored in time for the return of parishioners to the Donegall Street church later this week when coronavirus restrictions are lifted.
St Patrick’s administrator Fr Eugene O’Neill told The Irish News that the door, which is the main entrance to the presbytery, still bears bullet and shrapnel marks from the Troubles.
He said it will soon be "restored to its former glory".
The refurbishment to the brass door has been aided by funding from a Heritage Fund grant as part of an initiative with the nearby Clifton House as well as a private donation.
"The door itself is almost 200 years old," said Fr O'Neill.
"It was clad in brass in 1952 with the wooden door itself encased in brass.
"It has a great visual impact, tour buses slow down for tourists to see it and often there are groups of people outside looking at it.
"But there's also the significance of the church and presbytery that has to be remembered, this is the oldest continuous inhabitancy in the city of Belfast.
"There hasn't been one single night in over 200 years that someone hasn't lived here. As well as St Malachy's presbytery, we're the last clergy members living in the city centre.
"We are literally at the edge of the Cathedral Quarter and this area is being utterly transformed by the building of the university, the place is transforming around us.
"But we want to keep the significance of the church, the presbytery and the old school house and the heritage that these buildings contain."
The work on the iconic door comes just weeks after an antique vestment cabinet in the church was restored by one of the few remaining French polishers in Ireland.
Fashioned from mahogany and pitch pine, the substantial piece of furniture in St Patrick’s is thought to have been hand-made, in-situ in 1877, the year the church opened.
Fr O'Neill added: "The door was removed this morning by Brendan McKenna, one of the last tradesman about that works with brass, silver and gold.
"There are bullet marks and pieces of shrapnel from the Troubles still embedded in the door, it bears the scars of that era.
"But it will be re-plated and all the major damage fixed, it is all thanks to this grant we are able to get this restoration done.
"It will be put back on this Thursday before church re-opens, restored to its former glory and I hope it will last for another 100 years."
