| The present Church of St. Mary, Askeaton, celebrated its 150th anniversary this past year. Built after the burning of the old thatched church in 1847 the present church opened its doors in 1851. It is now likely the fifth church in Askeaton to be called, ‘St. Mary’, and, given the era of its construction, the anniversary was fixed for December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady. |
| The celebration was marked by a week of festivities from December 2nd to 8th, organised by the priests and Pastoral Council of the parish. The Redemptorists facilitated a three-night programme on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, under the general title of, ‘Gathering Our Memories; Rekindling Our Hopes’. The high-light of this was a torch-light procession, led by a lone piper, from the grounds of the old Franciscan Abbey (where also stand the ruins of the last parish church) to the present church of St. Mary at the beginning of Wednesday evening’s liturgy. |
| Much redecoration and repairs have been carried out in the church itself in the last two years. Further to that, in preparation for the celebrations, many other tasks were undertaken by the parish: the erection of a special commemorative limestone monument and of external floodlights in the church grounds, the sand-blasting of the façade of the church and graves of former priests, the installation of a parish radio system for the house-bound, the publication of a booklet on the history of the church building. Every home in the parish received a prayer card and a written invitation. In addition, every young adult was invited personally to the festivities. |
| We decided to hold our main celebration on Friday, December 7th. The National Museum gave us on loan for the day the ‘Askeaton Madonna’, a priceless 15th century Nursing Madonna and Child in oak probably coming from the Abbey and ‘rediscovered’ in Askeaton in 1970. This arrived in the church at 1.00p.m. His Excellency Dr. Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, and Bishop Dónal Murray spent the day with us, arriving at 2.00p.m. and remaining until about 11.30p.m. In that time they first visited the primary and secondary schools and were given a tour of Askeaton’s historical sites. Archbishop Lazzarotto was the principal celebrant at the 7.30p.m. Vigil Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This was a truly festive celebration with a full congregation in attendance. One of the hand-bells from the old friary was heard again during the Mass and the newly composed Parish Anthem was sung by the choir for the first time. After Mass the Nuncio and the Bishop joined the people of the parish for refreshments, entertainment and a chat in the community hall. As our special guest, the Papal Nuncio endeared himself to everybody he met in the course of the day and made a special impact on the teenagers in the secondary school. |
| The 150th anniversary grew into a wonderful celebration for the parish. There was a palpable sense of occasion. Once again the wider community had an opportunity to experience the importance of the spiritual and the place of the Church at the heart of their lives. |