'We will have midnight Mass' - Clare priest to celebrate Christmas despite lightning strike

The parish priest for Ruan & Dysart in County Clare says Midnight Mass will be celebrated on Christmas Eve, despite a lightning strike which damaged the spire at St Mary's Church in the village.

The timber spire crashed to the ground in flames after it was struck at around 3am on Sunday morning. A family home, which was unoccupied at the time, was also damaged.

Speaking this Monday morning, Fr Pat O'Neill said the main church building did not sustain any significant damage but that the electricity and heating were impacted.

"The church itself is okay, the difficulty is we have no electricity and we have no heating in the church and all of the electrics will have to be redone. All of the electrics will have to be seen to and certified as safe before the ESB can connect us up," he told Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1.

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When asked about the possibility of there being Christmas Mass, he said: "All I can say is we'll see - maybe with the help of God, maybe we might be able to (have Mass)."

Fr O'Neill added: "We will have midnight Mass here (in Ruan) tomorrow night somewhere! If we don't have it in the church, we will have it in the hall  but we will have it here for sure and, if it's possible, to have it in the church we will have it in the church."