Saint Laurence O'Toole and Saint Brigid

November 14 is the feast of the twelfth-century saint Laurence (Lorcán) O'Toole. I have only recently begun to research his life and career but have been immediately struck by his links to the holy places of the early Irish church, most famously Saint Kevin's monastery of Glendalough. At my main site today I have published an address delivered in 1880 on the 700th anniversary of the death of Saint Laurence by the then Bishop of Ossory, the future Cardinal P.F. Moran. Interestingly, he begins with an account of the devotion of the family of Saint Laurence to the Irish patroness Saint Brigid:

St. Laurence O'Toole was born about the year, 1125. His father was chieftain of the Hy-Murray territory, which embraced all those fertile and picturesque districts now comprised in the southern half of the County Kildare. St. Bridget was the patron of the family, and her protecting mantle, and her blessing, were in a particular manner extended to the whole of that rich territory. The infant was sent to St. Bridget's shrine at Kildare to receive the waters of Baptism. Many signs and wonders foreshadowed his future greatness. The holy man who baptized him gave him the name of Lorcan, that is to say, one valiant and renowned, foretelling at the same time, that he would one day be magnified on earth and glorified in heaven. 

The rest can be read here. Blessings of the Feast!

Monasterevin (Walsh)

The following is from Fr. Thomas Walsh's History of the Irish Hierarchy, published in New York in 1854, chapter xlviii, at p. 488-9:

Monasterevin in the barony of Offaley St Abban founded this monastery to which was annexed the privilege of a sanctuary Abban was of a Leinster family This monastery is supposed to have taken its name from its position as it was contiguous to the river Barrow the Irish word Abhan meaning a river AD 1178 Dermod O Dempsey prince of Offaley founded the Cistercian abbey of Monasterevin de Rosea valle under the invocation of the Virgin Mary and richly endowed it AD 1199 the abbot John was appointed bishop of Leighlin AD 1297 the abbot accused of harboring Irish felons plunderers and robbers of Offaley into his house appeared and pleaded that his monastery was situated in the marches and out of the pale and that he never knowingly received any persons of this stamp The jury however admitting that he had not voluntarily harbored such men nor had the power of resisting or detaining them fined him half a marc because he did not raise the hue and cry The abbot of Monasteverin sat as a baron in parliament At the general suppression this abbey was granted to George lord Audley who assigned it to Adam Loftus viscount Ely It has finally fallen into the hands of the earl of Drogheda by whom it has been modernised still retaining its venerable monastic appearance and is at present known as Moore abbey

Traditional Latin Mass for Deceased Members 2015

Please join us for a Traditional Latin Mass for the deceased members of the Catholic Heritage Association of Ireland, followed by refreshments and our Annual General Meeting.

Pilgrimage to the grave of Little Nellie of Holy God

To conclude our pilgrimage to Cork City we made a unique and precious pilgrimage to the grave of Little Nellie of Holy God.  This heroic young soul should be know to all but may not yet be known to you.  If you don't know of her, you can find accounts of her life here, here and here.

Fr. Willie Doyle, S.J., visited her grave in 1911.  His account can be found here.

Little Nellie should be better known, better loved, better honoured.  Her memory, like her earthly remains, seems to suffer the same fate as Holy God abandoned in the tabernacle.

Pilgrimage to Cork in honour of Bl. Thaddeus McCarthy

The members and friends of the Catholic Heritage Association made a pilgrimage again this year to the Cathedral of Ss. Mary and Anne in Cork City for a Traditional Latin Mass. The report of the Mass last year can be found here. Several accounts of the life of Blessed Thaddeus can be found here, here and here. One of the insights we received from the sermon at today's Mass was the idea that Blessed Thaddeus, like St. Thomas Becket, was converted by the graces of the Episcopal office from a worldling who co-operated in the use of ecclesiastical authority for worldly conflicts, to one whose sanctity adorned his Episcopal state. Blessed Thaddeus died in the odour of Sanctity in the year 1492 and was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on 26th August, 1895.

The Cathedral of Ss. Mary and Anne is a stunning amalgam of early gothic revival architecture, its elegant traceries carry more than a hint of strawberry hill, and an austere modern gothic sanctuary extension. Details of the history and architecture of the Cathedral can be found here, here and here.

Blessed Thaddeus McCarthy Pilgrimage

Latin Mass Pilgrimage to Sligo

Members and friends of Saint Assicus' Catholic Heritage Association made their pilgrimage to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the afternoon of Saturday, 17th October, for a Traditional Latin Mass.

The Cathedral was designed by English architect George Goldie (1828-1887), who was also responsible for the design of Churches in Bohola (1859), Ballymote (1859), Strokestown (1860), Gurteen (1866), and Killasser (1868).  The Cathedral's design was 1867.  Building took place between 1867 and 1875.  It was opened on 26th July, 1874, by Paul, Cardinal Cullen and consecrated by Cardinal Cullen on 1st July, 1897.

The design is in a massive Lombard Romanesque, the only 19th Century Irish Cathedral in the Romanesque style.  It is in a basilican style with the triforium gallery extended across the transepts. This effect can also be seen, 'though less correctly and with much less effect, in a Gothic context, in Ss. Peter and Paul's, Cork City.  The tower reaches a height of 70 meters.  The interior is 69 meters wide at the transepts and 19 meters high.  The aisles continue under the triforium right through into a fine ambulatory with a corona chapel that is now a baptistery.  The High Altar, surmounted by a statue of Mary Immaculate is intact under a brass baldachino.  Some of the stained glass is by Lobin of Tours.

Mass for Deceased Members 2015

Saint Brigid and the Little Hostage

October 2 is the feast of Saint Giallán of Killelan, a Kildare saint with an interesting story attached to his name. There is a note appended to the margins of the Martyrology of Tallaght which explains that his name, derived from the Irish for a hostage, giall, was bestowed on him by Saint Brigid of Kildare. Our saint was originally a prince of Leinster called Onme who was given to Saint Brigid by another Leinster ruler to ensure the submission of Onme's father. The scribe's note tells us:

[OCTOBER 2] 

Onme (i.e. simul) or Omne son of the king of Leinster. And he was given as a hostage to the king of Leth Cuind, and he gave him into Brigit's hand that she might on his account obtain submission a patre suo, et aliquo die dixerunt discipulae Brigitae ei: ' 'tis lovely the little hostage (giallán) is to-day,' said they. 'Giallán will be his name for ever,' said Brigit. And that is the one who is in Cell Giallain in Ui Muiridaig.

It seems that the little hostage made quite an impression on Saint Brigid and her household! Professor Pádraig Ó Riain, in his 2011 Dictionary of Irish Saints reveals that the saint is associated with the County Kildare locality of Killelan, probably originally Ceall Ghialláin. October 2 is the second of two feast days recorded for him, the first is at September 6. There is a post on Saint Giallán at my other site here.

High Mass for Galway Cathedral 50th Anniversary

This afternoon, members and friends of the Catholic Heritage Association of Ireland gathered for an historic High Mass in the Gregorian Rite to mark the 50th Anniversary of the dedication of Galway Cathedral.  The Mass was offered for the benefactors of the Catholic Heritage Association of Ireland.

Given the date, months after the Instruction 'Inter Ocumenici' (26th September, 1964), and the Decree of the Congregation of Rites (27th January, 1965) issuing the 'interim' Missal, it is likely that today's Mass was the very first time that Mass was celebrated using the Missal of 1962 in Galway Cathedral.

Priests from several Dioceses and servers from several branches of the Catholic Heritage Association around Ireland were very ably accompanied by the Lassus Scholars of the Dublin Choral Foundation for the Mass of the Ember Saturday in September.

On the previous day, a very successful training day for Priests on the celebration of Mass in the Gregorian Rite was organised by the Catholic Heritage Association, again in Galway Cathedral, with the support of the Archdiocese of Tuam and the Diocese of Galway, and a further series of training days are planned for the Western Dioceses in the coming months.

Galway Cathedral is the eighth Cathedral in which the Catholic Heritage Association has organised a pilgrimage with Mass in the Gregorian Rite in the past year.  Two further pilgrimages to Cathedrals, including Traditional Latin Masses are scheduled for October.  The Catholic Heritage Association of Ireland now has branches based in half of Ireland's 26 Dioceses.

The Diocese of Galway is the youngest Diocese in Ireland.  While most of our native Dioceses date from the Synods of Ráth Breasail (1111) or Kells (1152), the Diocese of Galway didn't come into being until much later.  In 1485, Pope Innocent VIII created the Wardenship of Galway, a quasi-diocesan structure removed from the Ordinary jurisdiction of the Archbishops of Tuam.  Only in 1831 did it become a Diocese, later to be joined with Kilfenora and perpetual Apostolic Administration of Kilmacduagh (1883).

The Diocese is young in another sense.  The population of the Diocese has doubled since 1950, 91% of them being Catholic.  Thanks to the presence of the National University of Ireland, Galway, and Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, 17% of the population are students and 30% are aged between 15 and 24 years.

The youngest Diocese in the Country also has the youngest Cathedral.  The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and Saint Nicholas was built upon the site of Galway gaol, which was, as Dr. Browne, the then Bishop of Galway wrote: "...Now that the site has become available, I submit to you there could be no more noble or more fitting use than to erect on it a Cathedral in thanksgiving to God, Who sustained our people in their days of trial. A Cathedral replacing a jail is the most perfect symbol of the triumph of a people who were proscribed for being Irish and Catholic. A noble Cathedral on this site would be also a fine addition to the beauty and dignity of this City of Galway, and an object of pride to all in the country..."

The Cathedral is built upon Nun's Island in the River Corrib, which was granted by the City Council of Galway on 10th July, 1649, to the Poor Clare Nuns, whose present Convent on the site has been in continuous occupation since 1825.

Construction of the Cathedral began in 1958 in an eclectic style that was a fusion of baroque, gothic and American missionary styles.  It was the last Catholic Cathedral to be built in Ireland - although a few Dioceses still retain their Pro-Cathedrals in expectation - and the last Cathedral in Europe to be built of stone.  The Cathedral was dedicated on 15th August, 1965.  Richard, Cardinal Cushing, Archbishop of Boston, was the Papal Legate.

The Diocese also has a regular Gregorian Rite Mass offered every Sunday at 2.30 p.m. in the Dominican Church, the Claddagh, by Canons of the Institute of Christ the King.