Building of the present Mervue Parish Church, which commenced in 1966 on property purchased from Galway Corporation, which also included a school site at a total cost of 7000 pounds. The church was the first completed in the city after Vatican 11 and on the 18 August, 1968, it was dedicated by the Bishop of Galway, Dr Micheal Browne, to the Holy Family. Fr. Jack O’Conner and Fr. Martin Coen were assigned to the new church. Prior to the opening of the church, Sunday Mass was held in the nearby Potez factory.
The plan of the new church was innovative with a major space constructed under the building set aside for community affairs. Consequently, the church has a rising railed walkway on either side leading to the raised entrance. Inside, the altar is located in the middle of the circular church, so that a congregation of 1,100 can be seated around it. The walls are of reinforced concrete, as is the roof, which has an outer copper surface. The architect was Patrick Sheahan and Partners, Limerick, the buider was John Sisk, and the total cost of the building was 190,000 pounds according to Tom May in Churches of Galway, Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora.
Major feature inside the church, after some alterations, include a mothers’ and children’s chapel and a Blessed Sacrament Chapel. Of special interest are the altar, lamp stand and ambo, which are made from Peruvian onyx. Meanwhile the shrines of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary contain rather fine Florentine mosaics in the Byzantine style. Overhead, a large crucifixion scene painted on the cross by Italian artist, Giorgio Favella, a replica of St. Clare’s Cross in Assis, hangs directly over the altar, concentrating minds on the purpose of the Mass itself. Changing sunlight patterns also display the stained glass windows, by Phillis Burke of Dublin to best effect. They contain scenes from the Annunciation, Crucifixion and Ascension.
Outside the church, a fine grotto was erected by Fr. Joe Delaney with much financial help from the parishioners in 1980, while a small stone version was installed in 2000 next to it incorporating the treasured names of children who died prematurely. Of interest also is the shade provided by nearby trees, which, uniquely, were transplanted from their more formal setting in Eyre Square.