THE PARISH PRIEST of a church that caught fire after being struck by lightning on Sunday in Clare said the community is “very, very lucky” the fire did not spread.
The timber spire of the church in Ruan crashed to the ground in flames after it was struck by lightning in the early hours of the morning.
The alarm was raised at around 3.45am when emergency services were alerted to a fire at the church.
It’s been reported that a ‘huge flash of lightning’ was seen and a ‘massive bang’ heard at across a wide area of Clare around the same time. Moments later, the first calls reporting several incidents in the Ruan area were received.
Speaking on the incident, local parish priest Fr Pat O’Neill said the main church building did not sustain any significant damage but that the electricity and heating were impacted.
Fr O’Neill said the spire took fire “very quickly”, adding that it was lucky the steeple did not collapse onto the main building of the church, and that the fire was brought under control before it could spread.
“If the steeple had fallen on the church, everything would have been gone. We were very, very lucky, I feared the whole church could be gone” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“I heard a loud bang and I thought it was just lightning. But then somebody came and banged on my door and said the church spire was on fire.
“It was ablaze but luckily it was contained. However a home of a local family has been totally destroyed, so it’s very upsetting for the whole community,” he added.
While the main building suffered some water damage, it was otherwise relatively unscathed. The church’s electrical system was however damaged with power sockets reported to have been blown off the wall or burned out.
While fire crews were dealing with that incident, they received a report of a house on fire nearby, also believed to have been caused by lightning. There were also reports that electricity poles and transformers were struck by lightning.
Fr O’Neill said he is hopeful that some services can be held in the church over the Christmas period.
“We will have midnight Mass here tomorrow night somewhere,” Fr O’Neill said.
“If we don’t have it in the church, we will have it in the hall but we will have it here for sure and, if it’s possible, to have it in the church we will have it in the church.”
It’s expected that the church tower will have been inspected by structural engineers and further efforts to make the building safe may also be required.
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