Background
The first chapel was built in Belcarra in the late 1700s as the Penal Laws were being relaxed. It was a modest cruciform thatched building built near the bridge on the banks of the river where the Sports Centre now stands. It came right out the edge of the road and the present Marian Grotto would have been inside the East transcript.
The chapel sustained serious damage during the big wind January 6th 1839. A site for a new Church was acquired across the road and building began in 1846 but because of the Famine work only recommenced in 1872. The Church was finally opened in 1877.
In 1961 Fr William Walsh began renovation of the Church which is now dedicated to St.Anne.
This fine cut-stone building is listed on the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage in the Buildings of Ireland.
Church Newsletter
The Church newsletters giving Mass times and Intentions and other community information can be found here in the Church Newsletter.
