Four Church-owned primary schools are switching to non-denominational patronage models ahead of the new school year. The schools in Kerry, Wexford and Roscommon had all been facing closure due to declining enrolments, with one in Ballinskelligs, Co. Kerry having just 14 pupils. Although dioceses have previously transferred empty school buildings to non-denominational or multi-denominational patron…
Derry’s Bishop Donal McKeown has announced the following clerical changes, which are effective this month onwards: Fr Paul Fraser is to be PP Ardstraw West & Castlederg and PP Termonamongan; while Fr Colm O’Doherty will be PP Clonleigh and Adm. Urney & Castlefin. Fr Francis Bradley, PP Buncrana and Chancellor of the Diocese of Derry,…
Security guards at Little Nellie of Holy God’s grave in Cork have been stopping devotees from accessing the site for several days The Irish Catholic has learned. Ongoing concerns about visits to the graveyard since the site was sold has made it a contentious issue. Developers told this newspaper a month ago they would allow…
Irish shrines point way forward, says Pope’s adviser Shrines such as Knock and Lough Derg can lead to a rebirth of the Church in Ireland, the Pope’s leading adviser on evangelisation has said. It comes as the number of pilgrims at both Knock and Lough Derg are up on previous years. Archbishop Rino Fisichella…
Tipperary priests are celebrating “the golden age of hurling” after its county’s players were crowned All-Ireland champions over the weekend. Hurling enthusiast Fr Vincent Stapleton, who attended the match in Croke Park which saw the Tipperary senior hurling team beat rivals Kilkenny 3-25 to 0-20, said he was “over the moon” about the home win.…
An emphasis on market forces is endangering theology’s place in Irish higher education, one of Ireland’s leading theologians has said, calling for the subject to be protected. “Theology is under threat in our higher education, there’s no question about that,” Prof. Eamonn Conway of Limerick’s Mary Immaculate College told The Irish Catholic. Explaining that students…
Pain and loss allow us to connect with others who are suffering and to love more deeply, a well-known US comedian and chat show host has said. Interviewed on CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360°, Stephen Colbert, the Catholic host of The Late Show talked about the deaths of his father and brothers Peter and Paul in…
Thousands of pro-lifers from all corners of Ireland are expected to take to the streets of Belfast next month to send a clear message to London that MPs should not interfere and force abortion on the North. Westminster has voted to force abortion up to at least seven months’ gestation on the North unless the…
A Catholic grammar school has reached new heights after all of its A-Level students attained A*-C grades in three or more subjects. Last week, Ballymena’s St Louis Grammar learned that their 162 Upper Sixth pupils achieved the spectacular results, marking another significant year for the top school in the North. The top two achievers were…
Ahead of the annual national grandparents’ pilgrimage to Knock Shrine in Co. Mayo, the search is on for the country’s oldest Catholic grandparents. The Catholic Grandparents Association (CGA) has issued an invitation for the oldest grandparents and longest married couple to attend the 17th annual pilgrimage which is due to he held at the national…
Chai Brady
Colm Fitzpatrick
Greg Daly