The sit-in began on New Year’s Eve and is being carried out by members of the Abbey House of Prayer Steering Group that has kept the church open as a place of worship for the past 18 months.
They are joined by with other local people who feel strongly that it should continue as a church.
Abbey House of Prayer Steering Group spokesman Pat O’Gorman said they have a rota of members and other volunteers operating in shifts to maintain the sit-in, which began on the day the Franciscan Order directed the church should close.
“Our sit-in will continue for as long as necessary.
“We are going to fight this to the very end. We are not giving up on it,” he vowed.
Members of the group are also considering a court injunction to prevent the closure.
Meanwhile, a Preserve The Abbey House of Prayer in Clonmel petition has been set up by Thomas Ryan, who is taking part in the sit-in.
The petition has, so far, been signed by over 530 people. It can be found online on the Change.org website.
The Franciscan Order’s 750-year association with Clonmel ended two years ago due to falling vocations.
But six months after the closure of the Franciscans’ much loved church, a group of local people interested in keeping it open as a place of worship came together and formed the voluntary Clonmel Abbey House of Prayer Steering Group.
The church reopened on June 13, 2023, on the Feast Day of St Anthony.
Over the past 18 months, the renamed Abbey House of Prayer was open daily for prayers with Mass celebrated twice a week by local priests on Tuesday morning and Saturday evening.
When the Franciscan Order made the surprise announcement on December 20 that with “regret and sadness” it would close the church permanently on New Year’s Eve, the Abbey House of Prayer Group issued a statement expressing its “great disappointment” at the decision.
Mr O’Gorman said the steering group hasn’t heard anything from the Franciscan Order since the closure announcement before Christmas.
The Order hasn’t, so far, responded to several emails sent to it by the Abbey House of Prayer Steering Group.
It has also not responded to contact made by Independent TD Mattie McGrath and the St Vincent de Paul in relation to the closure announcement.
He said the Abbey House of Prayer Steering Group is “ready and available” to talk to the Franciscans and expressed the hope the Order will make contact with them this week now the Christmas holiday period is over.
He pointed out the Franciscan Order hasn’t given the Abbey House of Prayer Group a reason for its decision to close the church and noted the group was able to run the church at no cost to the Order.
“We are self-financing. We are able to pay all our insurance, heating and lighting bills.
“We can’t understand why they want to close it when it’s not costing them money.
He said the support of local people through donations and their attendance at Masses and the support of local priests who celebrated the Masses on a voluntary rota basis have contributed to the success of the Abbey House of Prayer over the past 18 months.