Church statues for parishes in Ireland

The first difference is distance. A statue that looks generous on a kitchen dresser disappears in a sanctuary seen from thirty pews back. The second is permanence: a church statue is expected to stand for generations, to be touched by thousands of hands and to survive the occasional bump from a flower arranger’s ladder. The third is the building itself — the colour of the walls, the stone of the altar, the shape of the niche — which a statue has to sit with rather than fight.

That is why most parishes choose hand-carved marble for anything permanent, and keep painted resin for places where colour matters more than weight: a side shrine, a sacristy, a parish office, or a statue that is carried in procession.

We have one photograph we are allowed to point to: a statue of St Thérèse from St Ignatius Statues, in Galway Cathedral. You can see it on our story page.

Parish purchases are rarely a one-person decision. A statue may be given in memory of a parishioner, paid for by a collection, or approved by a finance committee that meets once a month. If you need a written quote to bring to a meeting, or want to know what paperwork we can provide for the parish accounts, write to us with the statue you have in mind and we will tell you plainly.

Many statues in Irish churches were given in memory of someone, and the family is often glad to be asked. If a statue is being donated, it is worth agreeing with the parish priest beforehand where it will stand, so that the gift arrives to a place ready for it.

When a statue is being replaced, measure the old one before it is taken down — its height and the footprint of its base — and send us a photograph of where it stands. That tells us more than any description.

Marble is too heavy for the post, so we deliver it ourselves to any county in the Republic of Ireland, at the delivery charge shown on each statue’s page. Every piece is crated and padded for the journey.

Before delivery, tell us about access: steps up to the church door, narrow sacristy passages, a gravel path, or a niche set high in a wall. Have the plinth or base ready and level, and have enough people on hand to lift the statue into place. If you would rather collect, collection in Termonbarry, Co. Roscommon, is free once the order is paid in full.