Bishop Kieran O’Reilly recently paid a special visit to Lorrha when
he was the chief celebrant at the Bicentennial Mass of St Ruadhan’s
Church. The bishop was joined by Lorrha PP Fr Pat Mulcahy and Fr John Donnelly AP, while 10 other visiting clergy participated in the joyful celebrations.
In his message to all which is contained in
the Mass booklet, Bishop Kieran described the celebrations as a great
moment of joy and thanksgiving for all.
He added: “Historians tell us
that St Ruadhan arrived here in the middle of the 6th century, he was
known as one of the twelve Apostles of Ireland. The parish can be
rightly proud of the tradition of faith that is here and extends back
into the earliest times, indeed, to the coming of Christianity to our
country.”
An electricity failure during the ceremony, added
poignancy to the celebrations and captured the importance of what
Bishop Kieran described as the our dependence on modern things
The church’s logo for the Year of Faith is of a boat. Michaela Young
and Daniel Madden unveiled the art work that they and their fellow
students in Lorrha National School had made. Bishop Kieran praised their
efforts and the work spent with their teachers in compiling this art
work. An informal part of the celebrations saw the bishop chat to the
pupils about their Faith now and in the years ahead.
The
commentary for the presentation of gifts was by Mary Coen and the
bearers were Michelle Mannion, Jean Hough, Pat Hough, Kathleen Houlihan,
Denis and Caitriona Duggan, Maresa Kennedy, Eamon, Kim and Dylan
Mannion, Marie, James and Eimear O’Meara. Reading was by Sheila Hoctor
with prayers of the faithful by Tom Darcy and Cliona Hough. Presentation
of gifts was brought to the altar by Peter Semen and Agnes Slevin.
Local historian and publican Pat Hough wrote the following about the
200 year old building. St Ruadhan’s Catholic Church was built in 1813 by
a Dominican Priest Fr Alexander Fitzgerald OP. The T-shaped structure
was built from the stones of the old Dominican Abbey alongside which was
built in 1269.
The bell which summoned people to its opening day in
1813 was dug up in a field near the Dominican Abbey a few years
previously and it was assumed it was the Abbey bell. In 1939 some of the
western gable of the Abbey collapsed and the bell was buried in the
debris. However, the wall was restored and the bell replaced and it
continues to serve the people of Lorrha to this day.
St Ruadhan’s Church
was reroofed and improved in 1908-’09. The two stained glass windows on
either side of the altar were erected in 1909, one in honour of St
Ruadhan, the Patron Saint of Lorrha-Dorrha , the second in honour of St
Patrick, patron saint of Ireland.
More renovations were carried out in
1977 to adapt itself to a new liturgy and was rededicated in December
1977 by Most Rev Michael Harty DD, Bishop of Killaloe.
Symbols of
historic Lorrha were incorporated in the renovated church like the altar
for example which has an inscription from the Stowe Missal (Lorrha
Missal) which was written 800 AD and the beautiful art forms of the
Missal’s shrine, fashioned in Lorrha in 1050, are reproduced in bronze
to form the tabernacle.
The old confessional boxes were removed and
plaques were relocated. The stations-of-the-cross which hung all around
the church were removed from their frames, and now hang in rows on
either side of the altar.
Other works were carried out on
St Ruadhan’s Church in more recent times and to this day the church
serves the parish of Lorrha and Dorrha very well.