Little Nellie – Special Feature Chai Brady hears about a community’s intense desire for Little Nellie’s sainthood Even though she died over 100 years ago Ellen Organ, best known as Little Nellie of Holy God, continues to inspire devotion among a significant number of people in both Ireland and abroad, with a growing number calling…
Little Nellie – Special Feature Serious questions are being asked by Little Nellie’s devotees about access to her grave. The path is overgrown and difficult to reach with several obstacles in the way – making it almost impossible for an elderly or disabled person to access the cemetery. When the site, formerly owned by the…
Little Nellie – Special Feature Despite an extensive investigation carried out by canon lawyers, clergy and lay people, Bishop-Emeritus of Cork and Ross John Buckley was not convinced that the evidence collated on Little Nellie warranted sending to Rome. He acknowledged that there was a huge interest in Little Nellie among the faithful in his…
Starting in Tipperary and ending in Waterford, hundreds of pilgrims have been enjoying the 100km-long St Declan’s Way over the summer. Broken-up into five stages and starting in Cashel, 300 people have taken on the challenge each month since April. At the end of this month, pilgrims will tackle the final leg of the trek…
The priest in charge of Croagh Patrick has appealed to Catholics to push for its preservation as a place of pilgrimage and contact Mayo County Council. After almost 9,000 pilgrims summited Croagh Patrick over the weekend, the mountain’s stakeholders are calling on all members of the public to make submissions to the council regarding plans…
Baroness Nuala O’Loan has said she believes the new UK PM Boris Johnson aims to renegotiate a time limit on the Brexit backstop in order to “buy time”. Currently he “is playing hard”, Baroness O’Loan told this paper. Without a time limit “the backstop doesn’t cease to operate until all the member states agree, and…
Fianna Fáil has said they are not opposed to referring the issue of assisted suicide to a Citizens’ Assembly for discussion, according to reports. A party spokesperson is quoted in the Medical Independent as saying they “would not oppose” this option. However, when contacted by this paper the party failed to answer a query relating…
Children’s Corner Quicksand is created when water is trapped in sand or marshy earth, thus creating a soil that is halfway between a solid and a liquid. Although the name quicksand would indicate it is in fact created with sand, it can be any mass of clay or dirt particles that contain trapped water. But…
The Church response to the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been “amazing” according to a Trócaire worker currently in the country. The Head of Humanitarian Programmes for Ireland’s Church-charity, Noreen Gumbo flew to the DRC after the World Health Organisation announced last week the disease’s spread was an emergency of…
After Massgoers’ prayers for golfer Shane Lowry were answered over the weekend, there is “tremendous excitement” in Clara parish, a local priest has said. Shane returned home to the small Offaly town on Wednesday and received a hero’s welcome after winning the British Open. Commenting on Shane’s mother Bridget clutching a statue of St Anthony…