The site for St. Conleth’s Parish Church was donated by the Mansfield family in 1847. The Church took 5 years to build and was opened for worship on Sunday 12th October 1852. Originally the Church was an oblong structure, (consisting of nave, choir and sanctuary). In 1894/5 the Church was enlarged with the addition of two transepts and a new Sanctuary area. St Conleth’s altar with its magnificent stained glass windows behind the high altar was made by Meyer of Munich, and the high altar was manufactured and imported from Italy. The Church was solemnly consecrated by the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin, Dr Matthew Cullen, in 1929. The 150th anniversary of St. Conleth’s Church was celebrated in October 2002.
Picture of St. Conleth's Parish Church by Paul Dempsey.
For many centuries the area of Ballymany had a church to serve the needs of the people of the area. It was destroyed sometime in the penal years. With the growth of Newbridge, it was decided in the 1970s to build another church for the Parish in the Ballymany area.
Cill Mhuire was built and opened for worship on 15th August 1983. It is of modern design – fan-shaped to bring everyone into close proximity to the sanctuary area. The stained glass windows are by Lua Breen and contribute to the brightness and spacious atmosphere of the Church. The newly added “hangings” are by Helen O’Keeffe. At the rear of the main church is a day chapel which seats 50 people and is used for small group liturgies and meetings.
The Dominicans came to Newbridge in 1756, and the foundation of Naas was officially transferred to there in 1769 or 1777. Fr John Daly was the first prior of the transferred house, and he wrote, “Fr Hugh Reynolds lived permanently in the Naas district, the others being scattered throughout various parts of the [Irish Dominican] Province. When some of the more prominent inhabitants of the village of Newbridge, following popular demand, invited him thither, he built a small cabin on the commons, at a place called Cluin in Irish, taking in from the commons, about three acres of land.”
The present-day priory, church and college gradually developed from this cabin. On Christmas Day 1819 they opened a church on the present site beside the River Liffey. The present church was built and opened for worship in 1966. Much of the Artwork in the church including the Stations of the Cross, the crucifixion group, altar panels and Madonna and Child are the work of the well known Dominican sculptor, Fr. Henry Flanagan, who was a member of the community for most of his life up to the time of his death in 1992.
The present church of St Eustace, Newbridge, is the third church on this site, having been preceded by one built-in 1870, which itself replaced the original church dating from 1819. It was blessed by Cardinal Michael Browne OP in 1966. Since the late 1980s, the Dominican Church serves the parish, and all parish services take place there including Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals.