The actual model of the church was made by a master modelmaker with the assistance of local people who were trained in the craft of modelmaking and it took four and a half months to complete. The cost of the model was estimated at almost as much as the original church cost when it was constructed. It is made entirely of fibreglass; a hardwearing substance which can withstand the weathering of the elements when located outside.

All the models here on display were built on site by the F.A.S workers and are exact replicas of the originals as they appeared at the turn of the century.

A lot of research and background work goes into the making of a model.

Firstly the actual building is surveyed by architects and scaled drawings made up for use by the modelmakers in the workshop. To get an accurate picture of a building, its function and how it looked in the era 1930 to 1950 old photographs and historical literature is examined. Through this we can learn about the social history of a building, how it looked and its significance at a particular time in the past. By examining the buildings around us, why they were built and later destroyed or restored, we also learn about people and society and how values change from generation to generation. For example the 1950's and 1960's saw dramatic changes in architectural styles. New modern designs were popular and we can see many examples of these in our urban centres today. The trend however has changed again in the past 10 years and many of these designs are considered eyesores. Today there is noticeably a renewed interest in the past and retaining the old character of buildings in keeping with their environment. There are several fine examples of this in Clonakilty town. The present town library and county council offices was originally constructed in the 19th century as a mill and remained in use until the 1940's when the mill was relocated. It lay derelict for many years until Cork County Council took over the project of its renovation. It was carefully renovated, conserving its traditional character and won a Europe Nostra architectural award for this in 1987. Clonakilty post office and St. Mary's convent on the hill are two more examples of buildings that had a varied history and served different purposes through the years.