The Gospel According To Chris

St Matthew’s Church, Newtownmountkennedy

aving recently played to another sell-out crowd at The Whale, West End boy Chris Holland is stepping back into the spotlight once again on July 29th.

This time out, it’s the Newcastle Parish Centre, the night being all about restoring St Matthew’s Church in his native Newtown.

Says event organiser Caroline Tindal, “St Matthew’s has fabulous acoustics and a beautiful melodious organ, but the church in clearly in need of some TLC. And that means raising some funds…”

The goal being to make St Matthew’s into a centre for the community, with events such as concerts alongside the traditional Sunday worship.

“St. Matthew’s is a very historic building, completed in 1837 on land gifted by Robert Gun Cunningham from his estate at Mountkennedy,” explains Caroline. “The church bell originally came from the Seven Churches of Glendalough. The altar table of black oak, extensively carved, is said to have been used by Bishop Ridley, martyred in England in 1555. The stained glass windows are magnificent memorials to not only The Revd Henry Irwin – who built the first church in the Rockies when he was mission priest in British Columbia 1885 to 1900 – but to Elizabeth and Wrigley Grimshaw too, the former becoming Registrar General for Ireland from 1879 tp 1900.”

So, you know, it’s a little church with a big, big history. And it would clearly make an incredible gathering spot for Newtown.

Taking place on Saturday, July 29th from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, you can book your Evening With Chris Holland right over here, find out more about St Matthew’s here, and check out our interview with the lad himself here.