Glenamaddy parishioners gather for home-grown Eucharistic Congress celebrations

By JACQUELINE HOGGE PARISHIONERS throughout Glenamaddy are gearing up for a major celebration in honour of next month's Eucharistic Congress event in Dublin. A three-day festival of faith has been organised from Friday May 25 to Sunday May 27 to celebrate the town's Christian heritage and will involve a special pageant, photographic exhibition, walk of faith and Mass of Celebration at St Patrick's Church. It is 80 years since the last Eucharistic Congress was held in Ireland and organisers of the Glenamaddy event say it is a way of involving people in such a significant event in the Catholic church. 'Many people will travel to Dublin for the official event next month but for those who don't have that opportunity, we thought it would be nice to celebrate the Eucharistic Congress here within our parish,' said Father Paddy Mooney, PP of Glenamaddy. 'The foundation of our parish goes back to the sixth century with the foundation of a monastery at Boyounagh, which means Yellow River.[private] 'We have 55 villages and townlands throughout the parish and they have all contributed to a photographic exhibition that will be part of the event, which is a great way of bringing everyone together for this special celebration.' Malachy Donelan of the Pastoral Council said buses travelled from Glenamaddy to the last Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932 and several houses in the area still had commemorative tiles, with the inscription IHS, from that event. 'Many people are still alive and well today who would have attended the last Eucharistic Congress and many of them have commemorative tiles and medals from it,' he said. 'Many more plan on travelling to this year's celebration in Dublin but we thought it would be good to have something local to mark our own Christian heritage that ties in with what is taking place nationally.' Breda Keaveney of the Pastoral Council said preparations for the event were well advanced and that people were looking forward to the weekend ahead. 'We have organised projects in the town's three primary school while people of all ages are taking part in our pageant. This will tell the story of Christianity in Glenamaddy from the Druidic period through to St Patrick's arrival in Ireland, the monastic settlements, Penal times, the Land League, right up to the building of the church here in 1904/05,' she said. 'Our Walk of Faith will bring people from the Boyounagh monastery site outside the town, along a 5km route back into the church, with a couple of stops along the way for reflections and prayers. 'We will have buses to bring people out to Boyounagh leaving from the church on the Saturday morning. 'For those who don't want to or are unable to complete the full walk we will have transport to bring them back.' Celebrations begin on Friday May 25 at 8 pm when the first of three performances of the pageant takes place at the Town Hall Theatre. While the event is free, booking is essential as numbers are limited. Saturday sees the community gather for the commemorative walk at 11 am while later that evening a Mass of Celebration will take place at St Patrick's Church at 7 pm, with refreshments and the photographic exhibition to follow at the community school hall. Two performances of the pageant will be held on Sunday, at 3 pm and 8 pm, bringing a close to the weekend of celebration in the town. 'All events are free and we're hoping the weather will allow us to celebrate in the grounds of the church after Mass on Saturday evening,' said Breda. 'But we would urge people to book their place at the pageant performances, and if we can't accommodate everyone over the three performances, we will extend it to run a fourth time. 'This is a community celebration with input from all sections of the parish, from local schools and music and drama groups to individuals who want to be a part of something special in conjunction with the Eucharistic Congress.' The Eucharistic Congress is an international gathering of people which aims to promote an awareness of the central place of the Eucharist in the life and mission of the Catholic Church. The Congress normally takes place every four years with the last event held in Quebec, Canada in 2008.[/private]