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St Joseph’s Monastery Re-roof, Dundalk

St Joseph’s Redemptorist Monastery is an impressive building in Dundalk, Co Louth which was designed by architect George Ashlin (1837-1921), particularly noted for his architectural contribution to many landmark churches and cathedrals across Ireland. St Joseph's was originally built in 1879 by James McAdorey, a Belfast man who had settled in Dundalk and is famous for its annual Novena which now attracts over 10,000 visitors per year. 

In recent years, QMAC Construction carried out an extensive €8 million renovation and refurbishment of the monastery.  In addition to this, QMAC also built a new extension which included a 180-seat hall, offices, meeting rooms and a reception area. The original natural slate roof covering required heightened maintenance over recent years as the fixings had came to the end of their lifespan, with lots of slate slippage evident across the roof.

Part of QMAC's building works included the full re-slating of the existing roof with the same slate being used on the new extension facility.

Both the conservation architects and Louth County Council sought to ensure that the replacement roof covering was going to stand the test of time and had a proven track record for performance in our harsh Irish climate.

The world renowned Penrhyn Bangor Blue Welsh Slate quarry has been supplying slates into Ireland since the 1700s, and cover many of the country’s most historic and landmark buildings.  LBS supplied QMAC Construction with 25,000 new Penrhyn ‘Bangor Blue’ county grade roofing slates for this project.

Restoration Architect on the project, Paul Monaghan commented, “As this listed building has been a part of the social and architectural landscape of Dundalk since the 19th Century it was paramount that we were sympathetic to the monastery’s heritage in our renovation plans. These Bangor Blue slates are from the Penrhyn quarry in North Wales and have a proven track record for durability and longevity in Ireland over many centuries. As well as protecting the original building design, this renowned roofing slate provided the assurance for us that this roof would last for centuries to come.”

St Joseph's Monastery Dundalk reroofed with LBS Penrhyn Welsh Slate.jpg