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News
Community Carol Service to raise funds for pipe organ
The Galloon combined choir rehearsing for the Community Carol Service.
A Community Carol Service which is to be held in Galloon Parish Church, Newtownbutler this Sunday, 10th December at 7.00pm will leave a music legacy for years to come.
A voluntary collection at the service will be going to an organ fund to install a Lewis pipe organ in the church.
The service will feature Newtownbutler Primary School Choir and the Galloon group’s Combined Choir. Refreshments will be served after the service.
The proposed organ which was originally in Carrickfergus Methodist Church was built in 1906 and is number 766. Organs by Lewis are a rarity in Ireland although this one is exactly contemporary with the much larger 3-manual instruments built by the same firm for the Presbyterian Assembly Hall, Church House, Belfast (1906) and First Presbyterian, Rosemary Street, Belfast (1907).
The musical quality is exceptional and very characteristic of the work of this builder. From a comparatively small number of stops the organ is capable of wide tonal variety; the 'full organ' is forthright and thrilling, including a fine trumpet stop on the Swell manual but equally there is a good range of contrasting quitter flute and string-toned stops or real beauty.
The organ has been regularly maintained by the Wells-Kennedy Partnership, Lisburn since 1981, initially through association with the firm of JW Walker and Sons. In 2008 the existing Carrickfergus Methodist Church building was demolished to make way for a new purpose built complex, in which the organ could not be retained. It was agreed by the church authorities that the organ would be removed to safe storage by Wells-Kennedy in the hope that one day a suitable new home could be found, thereby preserving this worthwhile example of our musical heritage.
Galloon parishioners hope that through their work and your support that this new home will be in Newtownbutler.
Everyone will be made most welcome at this Carol Service.