Feast of the Sacred Heart in Celbridge

The Parish of Celbridge rolled out the red carpet for us again yesterday for the feast of the Sacred Heart. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was celebrated in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite in St. Patrick's Church, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, at 7 p.m. It was a Low Mass but we sang a hymn to the Sacred Heart at the beginning and the end of Mass. Fr. Larkin began the hymn as he reached the Altar and we sang together rather than as he processed in. There was a really good number of people. The people in the Parish said that it was larger than the usual number on a Friday evening.

In his sermon Father spoke about the three major feasts of the Church after Pentecost, the Holy Trinity, Corpus Christi and the Sacred Heart. The feast of the Sacred Heart is the feast of the Love of God for each one of us. The Heart of Jesus overflows with love for us. Too many times in recent times people in the Church have failed to show the love of Christ and too often

The Leinster Leader site says that St. Patrick's Church was opened on Trinity Sunday 1859: "Designed by Architect J.J. McCarthy a nephew of the famous Pugin, it was built by Very Rev. Daniel Byrne, P.P., and adorned with some notable stained glass with a very lovely pulpit and a distinguished baptism font surmounted in very fine carved oak. It is interesting to note, and a sad commentary on the dwindling value of money, that less than £5000 was the total cost of erecting this magnificent cut stone building and furnishing it for divine worship.

Trinity Sunday, 1859, was a big day in the annals of Celbridge. From the Kingdom of Kerry travelled Most Rev. Dr. Moriarity, Lord Bishop of Kerry, who was to deputise for Archbishop (afterwards Cardinal) Cullen, who the records tell us was ill and unable to officiate. His Lordship of Kerry “was assisted by the Right Rev. Dr. McNally, Bishop of Clogher, and the Right Rev. Dr. Whelan, Bishop of Bombay with a large number of priests and an immense concourse of the laity”. So wrote Father Dan Byrne, the builder, under the date 19th June, 1859, and we can sense the pride and the joy that engulfed him as he added “Laus Deo Semper”, “Praise be to God forever”.

We read with not a little interest that the solemn opening of the Church was advertised in the Freeman’s Journal on several occasions in June 1859, and that a special train was run to Hazelhatch to carry the many visitors to Celbridge. The cost of the special train is duly noted by Father Byrne at the almost incredible figure of £1-15-9!

What kind of place was Celbridge of one hundred years ago? Evidently a much more important and prosperous village than it is to-day. Shortly after the beginning of the 1800’s the immense mills at the entrance to the town were built and soon employed more that 600 operatives in a flourishing woollen trade. Thirty years later we read that business in wool had declined and that the number employed had fallen considerably but that further up the river a new cotton mills had opened (Templemills) which had absorbed one hundred employees. We remember too, that the flour mills nearby, were in full production and were said to provide work for close on 700 men. It is therefore not surprising to learn that one hundred years ago, nearly 300 families lived in the village of Celbridge itself, that is in Main Street, Big Lane (now Maynooth Road) and Tay Lane.

It was there, to a reasonably prosperous community Father Byrne appealed in May, 1859, to start the collection of funds for the new church. It was a bold venture, less than ten years after the famine, but the people responded with great good will. The district collectors appointed were Mr. Booth for Oldtown; MrLynam for Killadoon; Mr Brady for Simmonstown; Mr Carroll for Newbridge; Mr Dignam for Celbridge; Mr Thomas Broe for Tipperstown; and Mr Harte for Templemills. A weekly house to house collection was instituted and brought in the remarkable figure of nearly £6 a week, no small amount in those days of unbelievably small wages. There are some poignant entries amongst the list of subscriptions: “The Widow Meyler, 1/-, Bridget King, 6d, The Widow Geraghty, 2/6, Mr John Broe and Mr Richard Bean gave several subscriptions of £5 each, while the Archbishop gave £30”.

An interesting entry appears under 31st March, 1857; “John Coughlin (his first prize at school), 1/-“and some months later, “Mary Coughlin (her first prize), 1/- . One would certainly like to know more of this Coughlin family and of the subsequent history of John and Mary. Stained glass windows were presented to the new church by Mr J.J. McCarthy, the architect, by Father Robert Wheeler the curate, by the Hon. Charles V. Charles (jun), by Fr. Dan Byrne himself, and by Rev. J.J. Lee and Rev. T.P. Fagan, then curates of Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

The Church opened in 1859 replaced what was apparently a penal day’s church, a long low building about 50 feet by 20 feet, which stood broadside-on, in front of the present church in Main St. Under March 21st 1859, we read that Father Byrne “paid labourers for taking down old chapel £8-12-9”, but received fro Mr J, Rourke, Mr T. Malone and Mr Kelly £11-18-6 for old timber and stones”. An old map dated 1839 shows the position of the original church with apparently a small house between it and the present entrance gates. One wonders could this have been the residence of the one of the parish clergy.