A request from the Irish Catholic
Bishops’ Conference is expected to see Pope Francis come to Ireland in
two years time for the World Family Meeting which takes place in Dublin.
Irish Cardinal Kevin Farrell, newly appointed head of the Pontifical
Council for the Laity, has confirmed that it is the Pope’s intention to
make a two day trip to Ireland for the Family Meeting.
Efforts are being made to ensure the two
hundred and sixty sixth Pope stops in Co Clare during this visit.
Tourism promoter, Eoin O’Hagan is leading the bid to get the seventy
nine year old to come to Holy Island which is off the western shore of
Lough Derg.
Eoin explained to The Clare Herald
how he first thought of making this happen.
“Last year we heard rumours
of the Pope coming to Ireland for the World Family Meeting that’s being
held in Dublin in August 2018 and that coincided with me being out on
Holy Island that day in Inis Cealtra and I said ‘this is a beautiful
place’ and why if the Pope was coming to Ireland would he not want to
come to Inis Cealtra because it has so many connections back over
hundreds of years to Rome and to the Catholic Church and it has survived
in a pristine condition and it’s worth a visit by the Pope”.
Since the idea first came to his mind,
Eoin has spoken to and met with Bishop Fintan Monahan to discuss the
matter. The Bishop of the Killaloe Diocese told him that Holy Island was
a very suitable location and he would presenting it to the Pope for
consideration when he meets him at the beginning of 2017.
“I had a chat with Bishop Fintan Monahan
when he was in the East Clare Golf Club and I had text them before that
and I got a chance to have a chat with him for five minutes and he is
very positive that it’s good idea, it’s one of many ideas and every
single diocese in Ireland will have their hand up looking for the Pope
to visit but he said that Inis Cealtra was a willing place and that he’d
be willing to present it to the Pope for consideration and to the
authorities in the Vatican which he said he’s going to do in Janurary
when he meets the Pope”.
O’Hagan operates clarevirtually.ie and
is also a representative of East Clare on the Clare Tourism group. He
feels that the region has been forgotten about and that a potential
visit by Pope Francis who became the first non-European pope in 1,272
years would be a much-needed lift for the entire country.
“Whatever it would be for East Clare it
would be big for the country and huge for the Mid-West of Ireland, it
would put the forgotten centre of Ireland which Lough Derg has been with
the promotion of the Wild Atlantic Way and the West of Ireland and West
Clare especially. Ireland’s ancient east which covers the rest of
Ireland the forgotten middle was the western shores of the Shannon,
Lough Derg all the way up as far as Roscommon, this would be a way of
highlighting the centre of Ireland that has been forgotten”.
More people would be encouraged to visit
East Clare if the Pope took the first steps Eoin says.
“Motorways
bypass this beautiful part of the country that’s worth visiting and it
has been a forgotten backwater for many years and now with the purchase
of Inis Cealtra by Clare County Council it is in the shop window for
tourists and if the Pope came to visit the island shur they’d all want
to come then and it is a special, spiritual and spectacular place worth a
visit by anybody and if the Pope came you’d never know who would want
to.”
With Bishop Fintan Monahan backing the
proposal it means the Diocese of Killaloe are behind Eoin in his
efforts.
The campaign is boosted by the support of Clare County Council
who would be more than happy to welcome Pope Francis.
Gerard Dollard, Director of Services with Clare County Council told The Clare Herald
“Clare County Council would be delighted to welcome His Holiness Pope
Francis to County Clare if such a stop was included in his itinerary.
Holy Island or indeed, the Pope’s parish of Kilfenora and other
locations would be very suitable locations for any such visit.”