The town of Roscrea has paid its first formal tribute to St Cronan, the seventh-century saint who founded a monastery outside the town and was patron of the area. The memorial event consisted of an ecumenical friendship walk in the steps of the saint to St Cronan’s Church from nearby Sean Ross, where he founded a monastery 1,400 years ago.
A large number of people assembled at the ruins of Sean Ross before proceeding to St Cronan’s Church in Roscrea via the N7 road, close to the ancient Sli Dhala route which the saint would have travelled when moving to set up his later monastery,
Brief ceremonies were held in all the places associated with the saint, intercessions were offered for the town and the community, and the saint’s life story was interspersed with hymns and readings.
Local clergy of all denominations including, Dom Richard Purcell, abbot of Mount St. Joseph Abbey, parish priest Fr. Tom Corbett, Rev. Lesley Robinson and Rev. Brian Griffin read selected scripture extracts.
The mayor of North Tipperary, Councillor Denis Ryan, and former teacher and local historian George Cunningham, were among those who read intercessions, while Roscrea Community Choir sang hymns of local significance.
The hymns included St. Cronan, Roscrea's Best which was specially composed for the ceremony by Dom Laurence of Mt St Joseph Abbey and For All Thy Saints in Glory containing a verse written specially by Rev Robinson in honour of St Cronan.
The memorial event was timed to coincide with the week of St Cronan’s feast-day (April 28) and was organised by a small committee of parishioners.
While this is the first occasion Roscrea has held an event to honour the saint who was so seminal in the town’s history, it is now hoped to have a similar ceremony on an annual basis.
St Cronan is believed to have been born in the general area and to have grown up in Connacht but returned to found the Sean Ross Abbey around 610 AD.
The monastery became known as the source of the Book of Dimma, a transcription of the Four Gospels by a monk called Dimma, which can now be seen in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
The scribe, Dimma MacNathi, signed his name at the conclusion of each of the Gospels.
During the memorial event, Mr Cunningham gave a short talk on the significance of the Book of Dimma and images from it were presented to each church in the area, which will be exchanged between the churches each year from now on.
SIC: CIN