* Originally there was a door on the north side oft he church. This doorway was apparently build up in 1906 in order to provide for a mortuary chapel. This exit door restored in 1972.

* November 1912. The interior of the church was replastered.

* May 1917. A Belfast film completed the installation of the church organ, this week undertaken in memory of Dean O`Neill and Rev. Patrick Murray D.D.

* Late 1940`s. William McMahon was contracted to install the clock chimes in the church. This was to mark the golden jubilee of Canon James Marron.

* 1961. In this year the bell tower and the church were pointed by William McMahon, contractor. The windows at the back of the High Altart were storm glazed.

* 1962. repairs to the heating plant were carried out by Jimmy Kernaghan; the gallery window was storm glazed; the face of the clock was repaired and the church was rewired.

* November 1965. A new oil-fired heating system was installed by Jimmy Kernaghan and sub-contractor William McMahon.

* June 1972. The interior of the church was dry-lined. The contractors were Creedon of Kingscourt and Leahy and Ballybay. The total cost was £12,000.
The church was vacated on the 5th June. Sunday Mass was celebrated in the Starlight Ballroom. The Minor Hall was used as an oratory for morning Mass, but the 10 a.m. Mass was said in St. Joseph's Hall. Weddings were usually held in Aghadrumsee, and funerals in the Starlight, or in St. Joseph` s Hall. The church seats were washed and varnished. The church was back to normal on the 8th December 1972.

* 1974. A new system of outside lighting was installed at a cost of £475. Tree stumps at the front of the Church were removed.

* 1977. The church organ were electrified and overhauled at a cost of £6,000.

Renovation 2003
* The church was vacated on the 3rd February 2003. The first service to be held in a renovated Sacred Heart Church was the Saturday evening Mass on the 13th September 2003. The Mass of Thanksgiving was celebrated by Dr. Joseph Duffy, Bishop of Clogher, on Sunday 21st September.

Sacred Heart Church Restoration 2003

By Tom Mullarkey

In the years immediately following Vatican II a major Programme of alterations of restoration work was carried out to the Sacred Heart Church. The sanctuary was modified by bringing the alter forward from the reredos. Walls were dry lined to eliminate obvious dampness. Timber floors were re-laid and new toilets were provided to the rear.

The work, similar to that undertaken in many churches in the 1970`s, left many problems unresolved. The Sacred Heart Church remained draughty and difficult to heat. Radiators spanning between columns were inefficient and divided the nave into three separate compartments making the space appear narrower than in fact it is. The Sanctuary was so awkwardly cramped that the liturgy of the Mass and the sacraments could not be properly presented. Heating and lighting systems were obsolete, dangerously so. Toilet facilities were difficult to access for the elderly while disabled access was relegated unsociably to a side porch. Roads, paths and parking facilities remained as relics of a bygone age.

After much discussion and robust debate, our proposals were formulated under the watchful eye of Duchas, the Heritage Council.

The sanctuary has been expanded by exending the existing platform beyond the boundary of the alter rails. The marble-mosaic paving has been recreated by the same workshop in Italy that carried out the original design. Salvaged marble from the rails has been recut and polished to form the new ambo, sedelia and paving trims. The original baptistery has been resurrected and given a new prominence worthy of the sacrament.

The new entrance porch has been designed to provide double-door stealing against drafts during normal use. The centre doors will open only for weddings and funerals or other such significant events. The porch incorporates all of the original structure and has been designed to reproduce the subtlety of the 19th century craftsmanship.

Modifications to the sanctuary and porch necessitated changes to the aisle layout. The work has been completed using tiles supplied from the original factory specially made to old "feet and inches" measure to match the beautiful patterns of existing tiling.

The void beneath the timber floor and new radiator technology have allowed us to install a new heating system bringing heat to the centre of the church for the first time.

Lighting has been concentrated in five new chandeliers to simplify servicing and to eliminate unsightly cabling tracking across walls and ceilings.

Externally, damaged slating and falling rainwater pipes have been replaced. Porous masonry has been re-pointed and broken stained glass glazing restored to the original designs.

The most obvious intervention externally is a new disabled access. Stonework is designed to match the original character of the church and although the new-cut stone will look raw for a time it will gradually weather to match the texture and colour of the adjoining masonry.

Roads and paths have been reorganised to ease traffic flows and relieve congestion. Additional Parking has been fitted in where possible and has been considerably enhanced in neighbourly agreement with the G.A.A.

Grounds have been graded, landscaped and planted to eliminate scruffy untended corners and to provide a setting worthy of the magnificent Sacred Heart Church built in faith in an age more difficult than the one we know today.