After a lengthy and painstaking renovation and restoration, St. Brigid’s Church will finally reopen this week. According to a spokesperson for the New York Archdiocese, Cardinal Dolan will preside at a dedication Mass this Sunday at the church, at Eighth St. and Avenue B, at 5 p.m.
The Mass is by invitation only and will be mainly for congregants of the merged St. Brigid’s and St. Emeric’s churches. Father Ato, formerly of St. Emeric’s, is the presiding priest at the newly renovated St. Brigid’s.
Due to grave structural problems, including a partially detached eastern wall, the “Irish famine church,” built by Lower East Side boatwrights, was on the verge of being demolished by the archdiocese about a decade ago.
But in 2008, a wealthy, anonymous “angel” donated $20 million to St. Brigid’s, including $10 million to restore the church and $2 million to endow the parish, plus $8 million to support St. Brigid’s School and other area Catholic schools.
