St Columba's Church, Long Tower
Coordinates: 54°59′34″N 7°19′43″W / 54.9929°N 7.3285°W
St Columba's Church Long Tower is a Roman Catholic Church in the Diocese of Derry. It is located in the heart of the city of Derry in Northern Ireland.
The present church is built on the site of Roman Catholic worship which goes back as far as the 12th century. The current Long Tower Church began life in 1783 in a much smaller scale than seen today. Father John Lynch, a parish priest in Derry started action to raise funds for building the Long Tower Church and he received finance not just from Roman Catholics but also Protestant people in Derry at the time. The church was opened in 1788.
The church was extended and refurbished in 1810 with the introduction of gallery seating, nave and the changing of the Altar to the northern side of the church. The High Altar was constructed with marble and supported by four pillars. The four pillars were first made of wood put proved to be not strong enough to hold the large and heavy marble altar and so the pillars were changed to be made out of marble. The layout of the church from 1810 onwards has remained largely unaltered. However, in 1908 a full refurbishment of the Long Tower took place which included addition of new stained glass windows, statues, shrines, baptismal font and the reposition of the High Altar and the introduction of a new sacristy.
The church's refurbishment was completed in 1909 and the church was then officially opened to the general public.
Many parishioners in Derry City feel that the Long Tower is the home of Catholicism in Derry. Even though the construction of St Eugene's Cathedral in 1873 as the mother church of the diocese didn't differ people's feelings for the Long Tower. The beautiful interior which could match any church in Rome has remained unaltered to this very day.
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