Stones used in walls at ancient Co Wexford church come from lid of tomb

Reuse and recycle is definitely not a new concept, local historian Myles Courtney has pointed out, having discovered that dark stones used in the windows of historic St Mary’s Church are in fact from Crutched Friars tombstones in Priory Lane.

Three dark stones in the windows of the north transept of St. Mary’s Church alongside the much lighter adornment of Dundry stone were a puzzle to Myles, who runs New Ross Street Focus – which does walking historic tours of the town.

Close inspection revealed engraving and inscriptions on these stones and they presented the appearance of a tomb lid that had been broken up and repurposed to repair gaps in the stonework.

Further investigation revealed many similarities with 18th century tracings taken from tombstones in The Abbey Orchard on Priory Lane.

This orchard was the 13th century site of the friary of the Crutched Friars and later on the Franciscan Order. 

The friars infamously placed a curse on New Ross when some members of the Crutched Friars were killed in the town before the year 1300. 

These murders were a form of mob justice in retribution for the killing of a local man by one of the friars. 

The news of the killing reached the ears of the Vatican and the entire town of New Ross was ecclesiastically reprimanded by the Pope. It was at St Mary’s Church that the once-famous ‘Curse of New Ross’ was lifted in 1436.

In the early 19th century a cemetery was discovered during the laying of foundations for a grain store at the church. The owners removed the tombstones to sacred ground within the walls of the ruins of St. Mary’s Church. Unfortunately no inventory was kept. 

“However given the similarities between the tombstone recorded in Priory Lane and the repurposed stone in the windows, it can surely be assumed that these stones could well refer to a member of the “downtown” religious orders,” said Myles.

St. Mary’s was originally built in the 13th century by the greatest Norman knight William Marshal and his wife Isabel. Not only is this church considered to be the largest parish church built in medieval Ireland, it also houses one of the largest collections of medieval funerary monuments found in the country.

Legend has it that Isabel was so enamoured with the church and town of New Ross that she had her heart buried in the church.

Today, although the medieval church of St. Mary’s is largely intact and well preserved, it is almost completely unroofed. The roofed church which stands in the place of the medieval nave was constructed in the 19th century and is still in active use by the local Church of Ireland congregation.

'The work of the church is larger than the building': 'Extensive' damage done following Cork fire

A fire at a church in Cork City has caused "extensive damage" and left those who attend it "devastated".

Emergency services attended the scene of a fire at the Cork Unitarian Church Princes St shortly after 8am on Monday, with a spokesperson from Cork City Fire Brigade saying the fire caused "very significant damage".

A section of Oliver Plunkett St was closed off to deal with the fire. 

While the historic building was saved, and the roof remains intact, the interior suffered serious damage.

"The interior damage is extensive. The historic building is saved but the usability of the interior for church services and all other activities has been severely compromised," said a statement from the church.

Cork City Fire Brigade said the fire was not being treated as suspicious and no injuries have been reported.

Minister Reverend Mike O'Sullivan was on site shortly after the fire broke out.

The statement added that Rev O'Sullivan and the church committee "were devastated and are assessing how to proceed going forward".

Rev O'Sullivan told the Irish Examiner: "The work of the church is larger than the building. We will inform the public at a later date where the Church will meet to continue its work."

He also offered his "deepest thanks and appreciation "to the Cork City Fire Brigade and gardaí.

Cork and Kerry churches to be left without Masses amid fresh wave of priests retiring

A wave of retirements in the coming years will exacerbate a crisis in Kerry that has already left 15 parishes without priests.

With many priests set to reach retirement age in Kerry, more churches will be without weekend Masses, Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne has warned.

Dr Browne wrote at the weekend of the impending exodus of priest to Mass-goers across Kerry and parts of North and West Cork, which forms the Diocese of Kerry.

"With many priests set to reach retirement age 75 in the next three years, the challenge is imminent," the bishop wrote in a pastoral letter read out at Masses.

More parishes are set to lose priests, while parish and pastoral area structures themselves would have to be reviewed "so they can serve us more effectively", the bishop said.

"A church can still be the centre point for community life, even if there is no weekend Mass," he said.

"Think of your local church community in four ways: a social/friendship community; a caring compassionate community; a praying, worshiping and sacramental community; and a community whose mission is to nourish and develop its faith, and hand it on to the next generation," the letter read.

A "key element" will be to add to the existing 26 pastoral leaders. A planning group has been established to pave the way for the new lay-centred focus.

A group representing laity, religious and clergy of all ages will oversee the planning process and will conclude by May 2024, according to Dr Browne.

The work will be "in a synodal manner" to draw in as many voices as possible and to make decisions by consensus guided by the Holy Spirit, he said.

Gatherings in each parish will begin in February.

The Diocese of Kerry includes more than 50 parishes from West Kerry to parts of North and West Cork.

Bishop of Kerry Ray Browne: 'A church can still be the centre point for community life, even if there is no weekend Mass.' Picture: Valerie O'Sullivan

A survey by the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) in late 2023 found 2,116 priests serve in Ireland’s 26 dioceses, with nearly 15% of priests over 75 and still working. 

More than 25% are between 60 and 75, but just 2.5% are under 40.

The Irish Catholic Directory for 2022 recorded 520 priests dying in the three years up to 2021.

Fr Roy Donovan of the ACP said Dr Browne's pastoral letter called for "a radically different way of going about everything".

This reflected the findings of two-year research commissioned by the national steering committee of the Irish Synodal Pathway presented to bishops last year.

The findings recommended radical changes and highlighted the need for training.

Priests would have to let go of power and the laity would have to take up the call to become more active.

The Diocese of Kerry had been very advanced in its preparations for the changes in recent years, Fr Donovan said.

"This calls for a radical and different circular type of church," Fr Donovan said of both the pastoral letter and the findings of the synodal pathway research.

The challenges for the church at the moment was it was still having to maintain the old system while trying to build the new, Fr Donovan said.

Mass celebrated by Bishop Denis Nulty for the installation of the holy Relic of Saint Brigid

 

Homily of Bishop Nulty

Welcome to our gathering that in many ways formally begins the celebrations of the 1,500^th Anniversary of the death of Saint Brigid.  Brigid’s homecoming! Brigid coming home to her own Kildare, Cill Dara, the Church of the Oak, the place of Brigid.  Brigid will be no stranger here, like our visit in this morning’s gospel to Capernaum … we’ve been there before … the word Capernaum coming from the Aramaic meaning ‘uncertain’.  A strange place one might think to begin ministry and yet it’s here in Capernaum that Jesus chooses to anchor His ministry.
 
In this morning’s gospel text taken from Saint Mark, Jesus walks into their synagogue and we’re told he taught with “authority”[1], a word that features twice in our text.  We realise authority is challenged at every turn these days. Moses, a figure of prophetic authority in the Old Testament is preparing the people for his successor; his time is coming to an end.   It might be called today ‘succession planning’.  Saint Brigid was a huge figure of authority in the early Church, baptised by Saint Patrick, professed by Saint Mel, Spiritual Adviser to Saint Conleth. 
 
She listened to God’s voice in creation all around her, in the streams, the hills and the plains.  When you walk out to Saint Brigid’s Well out the road, you appreciate the God of Creation.  Just as her cloak stretched over the Curragh plains, so too she stretches her hand of welcome, hospitality and affection over us this historic day.  A day when we welcome home to Kildare the relic that has come to us, from the Brigidine Sisters in Tullow who in turn received from Lumiar, just outside Lisbon in the 1930’s.  Taking a quiet moment in the presence of the relic of a saint and in the presence of Our Lord shared in His Word and broken in the Eucharist, let us call to mind our sins …
 
 Today Capernaum is the modern city of Tell Hum, on the northwest shore of the lake of Galilee. A synagogue was excavated after the First World War; it’s not thought to be the one Jesus walks into in this morning’s text from Saint Mark, but the synagogue that immediately followed it, built probably in 200AD.  Capernaum offers Jesus a reference point.  We all need reference points, starting points. Jesus starts his public ministry from Capernaum and it’s hinterland.  He calls it “his own city”[2].  It was here he cured the centurions son[3]; the man with the withered hand[4] and resolved a dispute on temple tax[5].  Capernaum, very definitely gave Jesus his reference point. In many ways if Capernaum was the home city of Jesus; Kildare is the home place of Brigid.
 
Today we have brought her home! At least a relic taken from the bone fragment of her head, which rests in the church of St. John the Baptist in Lumiar outside Lisbon., having been brought there by three Irish knights in 1273, who are also believed to be buried within the church.  Obtaining the relic of a saint like Brigid is no easy feat.  I visited Lumiar in October 2021 with the singular intention of securing a relic for Saint Brigid’s Church.  I was privileged then to hold the relic of her head which is contained in a splendid brass casket.  Sadly I couldn’t squeeze it into my Ryan Air flight bag!
 
The veneration and cult of saints became a notable feature of the church from almost the beginnings of Christianity.  Many walk the Camino de Santiago without realising the relics of Saontt. James are there in the Cathedral at Compostella. I have great memories of the relic of Saint Oliver Plunkett in Saint Peter’s Church on West Street in Drogheda.  Like Brigid at Lumiar, it is the head of Saint Oliver that is venerated in Drogheda.  Mind you the prison door from Tyburn along the side wall of the church is an equally stark reminder of the gruesome death the Meath man endured.
 
With our early saints it’s always hard to divide fact from fiction.  The process of formal canonisation was not established until 1159, so many of our early saints – Brigid, Patrick, Colmcille, Conleth and several others achieved sainthood by popular acknowledgement.  As with many of those saints, the line between fact and fiction blurs with the passing of time.  As Sister Rita Minehan reminds us “the more one tries to unravel the mystery, the more the mystery deepens”[6].
 
So what might be the reference point for Brigid in today’s Kildare? It’s too simple to install a relic and leave it at that, she would call us to do much more! What were the character traits that defined Saint Brigid of Kildare? To mention just a few, she was hospitable, she was a peacemaker, she was a strong woman of faith.  It was here she established a monastery that in time would separately house men and women, Kildare was then a powerhouse of formation.  How she secured the site for her monastery is a story well known to every school child in the country.  The local chief told her she could have as much land as her cloak could cover.  Her cloak was in time to cover the entire Curragh!  I also think it’s significant that legend suggests she was born in a doorway, on a threshold.  Tradition suggests that it was at Faughart, near Dundalk.
 
I think that image of a doorway speaks to us in the Kildare and Ireland of 2024.  An Ireland of one hundred thousand welcomes, ceád míle failte, but sadly as recent evidence suggests, not always if you are fleeing persecution, war or trauma.  The scenes on some of our streets and the misinformation that passes unverified on social media disturb, because this is not the hospitality that Brigid espoused.  As the monk and local scholar Cogitosus would remind us, with Brigid “every guest is Christ”.
 
I found it ironic that where some protests were taking place, the buildings that were in question were in fact named after ‘Saint Brigid’.  What transpired at some of these buildings would be anathema to all that Brigid stands for.  This is much more important than installing a relic, inculcating values that are championed by Brigid. The Brigidines and their team at Solas Bhríde allow the legacy of Brigid to continue to be nourished and explored and for this we are all very grateful. As we are to the Brigidines in Tullow for the gift of the relic.
 
Saint Brigid’s Day in ancient times became the reference point for all the seasons that followed. It dictated the ploughing, the sowing, the turning of the sod.  The feast was seen as a celebration of the incarnation of Christ into the all of life:

“in the milking of cows and the tending of the hearth,
In threading the loom and gathering the peat,
The breath of prayer blessing each movement,
A naming of Creator upon each mindful deed”[7].

May we ensure the creator is at the heart of all we do and say in the name of Brigid on this day of her homecoming to Cill Dara.

CW - New Posts

 

             Please note new posts and updates are now being published on

                               https://clerical-whispers.blogspot.com/

 

JPII Academy Calls on Pope to Fire Doctrinal Chief

The world's most prestigious pro-life academy has formally asked Pope Francis to remove the Vatican's doctrinal chief. 

The John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family (JAHLF) has issued a statement calling for Cdl. Víctor Manuel Fernández to be dismissed as prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and urging instead the appointment of "a competent theologian faithful to the moral teachings of the Church." 

The Academy submitted that the cardinal "does not have the necessary minimum qualities required to fulfill the role of defender of the faith."

JAHLF was founded in October 2017 to serve the same goals as the original Pontifical Academy for Life, a group disbanded by Pope Francis. 

The new lay Academy, according to its website, aims "to unfold the splendor of truth about life and family as taught by Pope St. John Paul."

It ... does nothing but justify the worst excesses of the sexual revolution.

The Jan. 17 statement expressed "astonishment" and "perplexity" that the 62-year-old Fernández accepted the position "despite having in past decades written scandalous books of an erotic nature which border on pornography and which contain passages that clash with the traditional teaching of the Church."

One of the "scandalous books" to which the statement refers is Sáname con tu boca: El arte de besar (Heal Me With Your Mouth: The Art of Kissing), published in 1995.

The pope's Argentinean confrère explained that the book "was not written so much from my own experience but from the life of the people who kiss." He said he hoped that the book's poems "help you kiss better" and "motivate you to release the best of your being in a kiss."

Another book, La Pasión Mística: espiritualidad y sensualidad, translated as Mystical Passion: Spirituality and Sensuality, published in 1998, includes a chapter describing differences between male and female sexual climaxes.

"When sexual pleasure is achieved in an act of love ... then sexual pleasure is also an act of worship to God, who loves the happiness of those who love each other," he writes.

Several sources noted the book also includes a detailed portrayal of an imaginary erotic encounter with Jesus Christ on the shores of Galilee, which the prefect said was based on an experience revealed to him by a 16-year-old girl. 

He said Pope Francis and the Vatican knew about the book before Fernández was appointed as prefect on July 1, 2023, and made a cardinal three months later. The work resurfaced on a Catholic Argentinian blog called Caminante Wanderer in early January.

The Academy summarily described the literature as "one of the worst evils of our time to the extent that, under the pretext of spirituality, it, in reality, does nothing but justify the worst excesses of the sexual revolution that is (sic) deeply corrupting our society and leading our youth to the abyss."

The prefect, who has been accused of covering up sexual abuse, distanced himself from the book. He said he took it out of print shortly after it was published because it "could be misinterpreted." 

The Academy noted, however, that the cardinal did not disavow the contents, writing, "Far from retracting the disgraceful passages that these works contain, Cardinal Fernández has limited himself to stating that he would not have published them today." 

A U.S. priest, remaining anonymous, applauded the JAHLF's appeal to the pontiff. He emailed Church Militant saying he believed that "based on the Prefect's writing, he not only lacks the requirements to be a doctrinal chief, but he's also unsuited to be a priest."

It's not just lay people who are questioning Fernández's suitability. Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong said in a Jan. 21 statement that the prefect has imputed an "intrinsic goodness" to what is "a grave sin" and is thus committing "heresy." 

"Shouldn't he then resign or be genuine?" the cardinal asked.

Prelates recently preceding Fernández as doctrinal chiefs include Pope Benedict XVI [then Joseph Ratzinger] (1981-2005), William Levada (2005-2012), and Gerhard Ludwig Müller (2012-2017).

Murdered Priest Nominated as Poland’s Patron

Amid Poland's recent takeover by the globalist Donald Tusk, the name of one of the country's most beloved martyrs is rising to the fore.

Blessed Fr. Jerzy Popiełuszko, gruesomely killed by communist forces 40 years ago, is being considered for the position of patron of Poland in 2024.

The councilors (aldermen) of Białystok, one of Poland's largest cities located near the priest's birthplace, sent the nomination to the speaker of the Sejm [lower house in the Polish Parliament] in Warsaw for consideration. 

"The life and death of Father Popiełuszko is a constant inspiration to act for truth, justice and social solidarity," they said.

According to Polonia Christiana, the councilors explained strife involving the European Union (EU):

We currently have a difficult situation in Poland, and values close to Catholics are under attack, not only by the EU, but also by national authorities. Therefore, today — when the foundations of our national identity, which our ancestors built on the Gospel, are threatened — we, Poles ... need the unity implemented by Fr. Jerzy.

The "difficult situation" the Polish media site refers to is a litany of transgressions by Tusk's new coalition. They include the liquidation of Polish public TV, a police raid on the presidential palace and the arrest and incarceration of two Polish MPs, the promise to overhaul the country's conservative abortion laws and the promotion of LGBT education for minors in public schools — all in just a little over a month.

An idea which needs rifles to survive dies of its own accord.

It's not surprising that traditional Catholic Poles would look to Popiełuszko for patronage.

Life of Holiness

He was born on Sept. 14, 1947, on the Feast of the Holy Cross in Okopy, a small village in the northeastern part of Poland. Despite humble roots, he was known for having great faith at an early age. He walked two miles each day to serve Mass and entered the seminary after graduating from high school. His seminary studies were interrupted when, along with other seminarians, he was inducted into a special unit designed to indoctrinate young Catholic soldiers with communist ideology. 

The now-blessed man, however, resisted the indoctrination. He publicly prayed the Rosary and refused to remove his scapular. As punishment, he had to stand barefoot all night — in rain and snow.

His resistance to compromise on matters of faith and morals characterized his life as a priest.

After the communists declared martial law in 1981, Popiełuszko offered from the pulpit of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Warsaw desperately needed comfort and advice — particularly to families of those being imprisoned and killed by the regime.

Peaceful resistance was always at the core of his advice.

"An idea which needs rifles to survive dies of its own accord," he taught.

While many Poles at the time were silenced, the priest continued to speak the truth. His example offered strength and encouragement to many people. 

He reassured his growing flock at St. Stanislaus Kostka, urging them to hold their heads up, "for you have knelt only before God." 

When the communists forbade uttering the word "solidarity" [the name given to the movement resisting the communists], he defended its use, saying: "Solidarity means remaining internally free, even in conditions of slavery — overcoming the fear that grips you by your throat."

Truth never changes. It can never be destroyed.

He also offered Mass to the workers inside the Huta steel mill, considered by authorities a communist fortress because it was a center of the government's economic power.

"Truth never changes. It can never be destroyed by any decision or legal act," the priest declared in one of his sermons. "Telling the truth with courage is a way leading directly to freedom."

Just weeks before his death, Popiełuszko hit the apex of his message, speaking against the communists' decision to deny work to employees who did not pay homage to their ideology. He argued that all men had the right to work in their professions and not be thrown out of work for their beliefs.

Brutal End

The communists had their eye on Popiełuszko for months. Finally, on Oct. 19, 1984, they abducted him on a country road at night outside Warsaw. They hog-tied him and subjected him to prolonged torture before killing him. His body was found 11 days later in the Vistula river. 

The results of the autopsy revealed details so horrifying that both the communists and the Church suppressed them. His remains were eventually identified by his brother — from a birthmark on his chest. 

Some of what the post-mortem revealed was a brain concussion and an injured spinal cord. Internal bleeding from external pummeling was found in his lungs. His kidneys and intestines were reduced to pulp. When the doctors opened his mouth, they found his teeth smashed and his tongue missing. 

He was beatified on June 6, 2010 in Warsaw by then-Abp. Angelo Amato. More than 100,000 people attended the open-air beatification Mass. 

Pope Benedict XVI said of the blessed priest, "He exercised his generous and courageous ministry beside all those who were working for freedom, for the defense of life and for its dignity. His work at the service of goodness and truth was a sign of contradiction for the regime governing Poland at the time."

CWI : Operation Latharna (20)

Well Mr Buckley, it seems as if your ability to tell the truth is now under severe scrutiny, and whatever credibility you may have thought you had (if ever) is now certainly undermined....by both yourself and your Southern Sidekick (SS).

On Sunday 14th January 2024, we published some evidence which clearly indicated your false claims of defamation against this site, and that was only the start of your abuse of process...seemingly and evidently, you do not like the truth.

We have reams of evidence of your false claims (assisted by SS) and our solicitor (the one in Dublin to whose offices you were invited and yet you went silent on that) is currently going through such for definite actioning.

Then, on 17th January 2024, your SS asked you a question under the guise of it being 'Anonymous' (God bless IP Tracker) at 538pm (quote) 'Pat did you have Clerical Whispers shut down? (unquote)

Your reply is as follows : (quote) I had absolutely nothing to do with that. (unquote)

Well Mr Buckley, there are none so blind as those that will not see, and you, and SS couldn't lie straight in a bed.

Unlike ye, we will produce whatever evidence we have (3 times verified) to back up everything and anything we claim - can ye?

The fact that the evidence is published to indicate you and SS's behaviour, and yet ye still deny it...says so much about ye indeed.

No doubt ye will be submitting more false claims of defamation against us for this posting as well.

CWI - Investigations

Despite the attempts of some in having to try and shut this site down, we wish to advise that we will be continuing with our investigations, and as already indicated, we will be naming names etc in the coming weeks.

To those who may be thinking of shutting us down, be very very careful in doing so - we will not be afraid to hand over the information and evidence we have to other outlets who will be more than happy to publish - and be damned!!

AODHÁN DE FAOITE

Eagarthóir / Editor

Louth County Council doubles down on decision not to divulge legal advice on Br Edmund Garvey motion

Louth County Council Chief Executive, Joan Martin, has again refused to divulge legal advice the Council received in relation to a controversial motion calling for the rescinding of the Freedom of Drogheda from former Christian Brother leader, Br Edmund Garvey, last year.

During a heated discussion on the Council’s handling of a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from local radio station, LMFM, Ms Martin said her sole concern was always to ensure that Louth County Council wasn’t exposed to legal action.

She also stoutly defended the Council’s handling of the FOI request from LMFM and accused the station of calling her integrity, professionalism and motivation into question.

LMFM had claimed that they were initially furnished with just two documents in relation to the FOI request on the Br Garvey saga, but that when the Council was compelled by the Information Commission to revisit the search, 892 documents and emails were uncovered based on certain keywords.

In the wake of the Information Commission ruling against the Council, Ms Martin claimed that her staff had been liaising with LMFM and had managed to identify around 30 relevant documents, but that the correspondence between the Council and LMFM in relation to the FOI request was then broadcast, which she described as “highly unusual”.

Cllr Maeve Yore, who proposed the original Br Garvey motion, said there were still questions to be answered in relation to the motion being removed from the monthly agenda last April and with regard to the legal advice the Council based that decision upon.

Now retired, the former leader of the Christian Brothers presided over a litigation strategy which means that cases against the order must be taken against all the members of the order at the time of the alleged wrongdoing.

Cllr Yore had proposed that Br Garvey be stripped of his Freedom of Drogheda honour and after months of discussion and debate the Borough District of Drogheda voted to no longer ‘recognise’ the title at its district meeting in September.

Cllr Yore again called on the Council to reveal the legal advice it received in relation to her motion, but the Chief Executive said she would not be releasing it, adding that councillors were welcome get a second opinion.

Updated CW Site

To All,

This CW site will update intermittently with our ongoing investigations - with names published.

However, regular postings and updates will now be published at https://clerical-whispers.blogspot.com for the time being.

Be sure to visit and keep yourselves updated.

AODHÁN DE FAOITE

Eagarthóir / Editor

CWI : Operation Latharna (19)

AS advised to you all yesterday, we here in CW will now advise that our site was formally reported (falsely) by Mr Buckley, beginning on September 7th, 2022, and each and every subsequent posting that we made was thereafter reported by Mr Buckley to Google for defammation....

And on Friday 5th 2024, Google decided to lick his lying ass and take the site down in Ireland - North and South - without informing CW of any malicious defammation complaints lodged by Mr Buckley since September 2022 - and that is going to be a problem (legally) that Google is going to have to account for in due course.

However, let us return to Mr Buckley and his Southern Sidekick (hereinafter SS) in all of this, and indeed their ongoing defammation against others which is part of ongoing criminal investigations both in the North and Republic of Ireland.

On Mr Buckley's 'blog', the Southern Sidekick was very quick to proudly announce the 'downfall' of CW at 3.59pm on January 5th, 2024 due to legal reasons...how you failed to mention your role (SS) and that of Mr Buckley does indeed surprise us here in CW, but then again, IP addresses do not lie...unlike both of yourselves.

Yesterday, January 13th 2024, you (SS) yet again falsely claimed that it is a relation of a certain priest who runs this site, but yet you and Mr Buckley have had invitations to engage with us all here in CW in Dublin - both of you have failed to take up on that offer : Why?

And yet again, in lying mode (as per norm) you SS claim that someone here in CW (quote) 'has been arrested and bail conditions stop him interfering with his blog as it's evidence?' (unquote)

Let us here clarify that none of these lies you and Mr Buckley continuously spout hold any truth - and if you have any evidence (highly unlikely) then please produce it.

Maybe you and Mr Buckley have had an insight into your own very near futures in that regard - Mr Buckley has had a few interactons with his local police force to testify to the very real possibility of that happening as well as a few civil cases coming down the line at him.

As for you SS, considering your own skirmishes with the local courts, one would have thought that that would be enough for you to consider your own position, but no such thing with you eh.

You have the audicity to go, copy and paste the testimonies of real and factual victims of abuse, as comments on Mr Buckleys blog, and then 'victimise' yourself by empathising with the real victims.

How low can you possibly go?

So many already know that answer...and the world and its mother will know when we here in CW are done with you and Mr Buckley....irrespective of how many false defammation claims you may make against CW.

CW will not be intimidated by the malicious actions and claims made by Mr Buckley and you, SS, a volatile and vindictive female who, as has admitted in a courtroom herself, (quote) : “I don’t get mad. I get even.” 

Well, let us advise you both, we will continue to expose both of your lies, deceit and your attempts to suppress evidence (including an email and telephone recording) which would undermine any and all claims ye have made about a cleric (amongst others), on Mr Buckleys site.

This is one cage that ye should not have rattled.... 

AODHÁN DE FAOITE

Eagarthóir / Editor

Updated Site Notice

UPDATE :  2145hrs - 13/01/2024

A full factual and evidence-based post will be published here tomorrow, Sunday 14th January, 2024.

It will give all of you the facts behind the malevolant attempts of others to have this site taken down.

It will also address the lies being perpetrated against this site and its staff by some of those referred to earlier.

Be sure to keep an eye here tomorrow.

Míle Buióchas / Many thanks,

AODHÁN DE FAOITE

Eagarthóir / Editor

To All

Be advised of new site, and we look forward to having you join us there...foes included

https://clerical-whispers.blogspot.com

Chalice from Croagh Patrick church consecration returns home

A CHALICE used at the first Mass at the consecration of the church on the summit of Croagh Patrick in 1905 has returned to the Westport Parish.

The chalice was gifted to local man Owen McGreal on his ordination to the priesthood in 1959.

Following Fr. McGreal's recent death in Wales, it was found that he had left instructions for the chalice to be returned home.

Fr. McGreal, who lived in Tenby, Wales, was formerly from Drummindoo, Westport.

The story of the chalice was shared by his curate, Fr. Liam Quigley.

He explained how the chalice was used in the consecration of the church on Croagh Patrick and was kept in the parish until Fr. Owen's ordination, when it was gifted to him.

He took it as a 'very warm and welcome' gift from the parish and had used it nearly every day since.

Following his passing the chalice was found on a small altar at his home, ready for the celebration of Mass.

Fr. Owen had left instructions that the chalice be returned for use on Croagh Patrick, to be kept safe in the parish.

The chalice was presented at the offertory procession at his funeral Mass in Westport.

St. Patrick's Oratory was built in 1905 by 12 local men who used local stone and cement that was hauled up the mountain by donkey.

Fr. Owen came from a family with a strong tradition in faith and public service.

He was brother of the late Fr. Michéal, S.J., renowned sociologist and campaigner, and was also predeceased by his brother Sean and sister Sr. Mary Gregory (Louis Order).

In tributes paid since his passing he was remembered as being 'a lovely genuine man who served the Lord and his people generously'.

He was always a wonderful person to have a conversation with, always attentive and interesting.

He will be sadly missed by his brothers Austin and Padraic, sister-in-law Margie, nieces, nephews, parishioners, Archbishop Mark O'Toole and the Priests of the Menevia Diocese, relatives, neighbours and friends.

Following requiem Mass celebrated in St. Mary's Church, Westport, he was laid to rest in Aughavale Cemetery.