Church of St Peter, Broadford

History

The present St Peter's Church was built in 1836, when Fr Peter Curtin, then parish priest, replaced the old thatched church building that had served the Catholic community of Broadford. The diocese places it among the churches erected throughout the diocese in the years following Catholic Emancipation.

The church has been renovated on a number of occasions. The work of 1995 installed a new ceiling and floor, dry-lined the interior and created a new sanctuary and a day chapel for weekday Masses; the old steps and the bell were also restored. Much of the work was done by FAS workers and sub-contractors, at a cost of £160,000 met by parishioners and by a fund-raising effort in the USA. In 2009 the entrance road was widened and an extension to the cemetery was completed.

The building

The church stands on high ground overlooking the village of Broadford. It is a large cruciform building with a plain exterior, though the diocese notes that the door and window mouldings and the false windows on either side of the main entrance suggest a development in ornamentation that was new in church buildings of the time.

Notable features

An eighteenth-century carving of St Peter is on the church wall near the entrance. The diocese records that it probably comes from the earlier chapel.