Mags GarganSupporters to undertake a 40-mile walk to the order’s headquarters in Dublin to present a 22,000 signature petition
Campaigners struggling to reverse a decision by the Irish Dominicans to close St Magdalen’s Church in Drogheda plan to undertake a 40-mile walk to the order’s headquarters in Dublin to present a 22,000 signature petition.
The Dominicans announced last September that they were planning to withdraw from five parishes across Ireland because of falling numbers and their aging profile. This sparked a passionate campaign by parishioners in Drogheda, including a hunger strike by sacristan Declan Hanratty, and the Dominican friars in the Drogheda priory have refused to be removed from the town.
Rita Hanratty, chairperson of the ‘Save our Dominican church’ campaign told The Irish Catholic a large group of campaigners, including the local friars Fr Jim Donleavy and Prior Anthony McMullan, plan to walk from Drogheda to the priory in Tallaght, where they will be met by “busloads of supporters” to hand in a copy of the petition.
Co. Louth senator Mary Moran, who will join the walk, has written to the Master General of the Dominican Order, asking for a meeting to discuss the closure.
“I have been really struck by the commitment, faith and quiet but strong determination to keep the church open,” she said. “It is a beautiful church with a lot of history behind it and so much life around it. It is very important that we hold onto it.”