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Woman Elected Dean of Kilkenny Cathedral

Canon Katharine Poulton

The Church of Ireland has appointed a woman as Dean of St Canice’s Cathedral in the vibrant medieval city of Kilkenny which is part of the Diocese of Cashel and Ossory and which has been totally male-dominated since the Middle Ages.

The Church of Ireland has over 115,000 members in the Republic of Ireland and  the Dioceses of Cashel and Ossory is one of 12 dioceses, covering the counties of Tipperary, Kilkenny, Carlow, Waterford, Wexford and some outer areas of Laois and Wicklow.

Canon Poulton will be formally installed and will take up her new post shortly after Easter 2010.

Aged 48, Rev Canon Poulton was born in Belfast, the daughter of a priest of the Dioceses of Down and Dromore, and moved to the Republic in 1999. She made ecclesiastical history as the first women to be ordained a Deacon in the Church of Ireland in 1987 and the second only female Dean in the Church of Ireland. She currently resides in Killiney South Co Dublin, with her two teenage children and husband Rev.Ian Poulton, who is rector of the Dublin parish of Ballybrack.

The Rev. Canon Poulton is currently serving as Bishop’s Curate of the Dublin inner city parish of St George and St Thomas, based at Cathal Brugha Street and has been a canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin since 2007. She is also a chaplain to the Mater Hospital, Temple Street Hospital and Mountjoy Prison.

Canon Poulton succeeds the Rev. Norman Lynas, who recently vacated his Kilkenny post to become a ‘Canon In Residence’ in Hamilton on the island of Bermuda.

Last month, the US ambassador to Ireland Mr Dan Rooney visited St Canice’s Cathedral, to see the tomb of bishop John Kearney, an ancestor of US President Barack Hussein Obama, thus confirming speculation that the American President will visit Kilkenny and St Canice’s Cathedral, when he visits Ireland shortly. President Obama is also expected to visit Moneygall, situated on the border separating counties Tipperary and Offaly, the original home of his Irish ancestors.

Thurles First Holy Communion And Confirmation Dates 2010

Dates and venues have now been agreed for Confirmation and First Holy Communion in Thurles, during 2010, and are shown hereunder.

Thurles Cathedral, Thurles.

Thurles Confirmation Date:

Date: Saturday April 24th., 2010.
Time: 11.00 a.m.
Venue: Cathedral of The Assumption, Thurles

Thurles First Holy Communion Dates:

Date: Saturday May 8th., 2010.
Time: 11.00 a.m.
Venue: Cathedral of The Assumption, Thurles.
Schools: Scoil Ailbhe C.B.S. Primary School and Scoil Mhuire Presentation Primary School.

Date: Saturday May 15th., 2010.
Time: 11.00 a.m.
Venue: Cathedral of The Assumption, Thurles.
Schools: Leugh N.S., Rahealty N.S. and Scoil Angela Ursuline Primary School.

Date: Saturday May 15th., 2010.
Time: 12.00 Noon.
Venue: Church of St. Joseph and Bridget, Bóthar Na Naomh, Thurles.
School: Gaelscoil Bhríde.

Multi-Denominational Christmas Carol Service At St Marys Church Thurles

The Rev. Peter Massey Cole Baker will conduct the annual traditional Thurles multi – denominational Christmas Carol Service at St Mary’s Parish Church, Thurles on Friday next 18th December at 8.00 pm.

St. Mary's Church, Thurles, Co Tipperary.

St. Mary's Church, Thurles, Co Tipperary.

Mrs Linda Stanley and Mrs Lila Stanley, ladies from the parish, will as usual, be on hand to take care of the seasonal floral decorations for this annual Christmas event.

The traditional Carol Service of “Nine Lessons and Carols” will feature readings by the first Lady of Thurles, Mayor Mrs Evelyn Nevin, aided by the President of Thurles Chamber of Commerce, Mrs Anne Strappe and Fine Gael UDC Councillor Mr Michael Cleary.

Music for the service will be provided by the talanted local musician Miss Ann-Marie Dwan, B.MUS. who will play the Church’s magnificent, century old pipe organ, which has been recently restored and from which music has not been heard publicly, now, for many years.

That much loved Christmas Carol “O Holy Night”, composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847, will be sung solo by local Thurles renowned Tenor, Mr. Michael Molumby, whose CD “Circling The Square”, recorded recently for charity, has almost been completely been sold out.

Other solo’s will be performed by local talents Miss Katie Lawless (also on flute) and Miss Rachel Willoughby, backed by members of the very talented Thurles Phoenix Production team, the churches chosen choir for this event.

All residents of Thurles and the surrounding Community, both young and old, are warmly invited to attend this truly traditional Christmas event.

Front and rear gates to St. Mary’s Church will be open, to allow for easy access and car parking, on the night.

Famine Soup - Thurles Ladies Make History

It was on the 15th November 1996 that the Minute Book of the Thurles /Rahealty Famine Food Committee was first discovered in St. Mary’s Church Thurles Co. Tipperary. The book had been put in an old apple box with some unwanted prayer and hymn books in 1850 and then placed on the top floor in the bell tower for safe keeping. Over the next 146 years the 2nd and 3rd floors leading to the 4th floor bell tower became unsafe and the contents of the apple box were forgotten. Then in 1996 it was decided to fully restore the church and its 13th century tower resulting in the box and its contents being located and identified.

This minute book contains valuable information of both local & national importance, concerning the ‘Great Famine’ period 1846 and 1847.

 Lila Stanley, Linda Stanley, Kathy Langley & Mary Russell

Lila Stanley, Linda Stanley, Kathy Langley & Mary Russell

In this book the locations of the soup kitchens in Thurles are given, together with details of their running costs and those employed there.

On Sunday next 15th November for the first time since 1849 a group of ladies from this parish Church will make history by manufacturing this soup,  based solely on the recipe contained in these historical minutes.

Visitors to the Church on Sunday next from 10.00am until 6.00pm can view the large collection of famine memorabilia contained in the Famine Museum and if they wish can also taste, for the first time, this famine soup which was given, mainly free, to those forced to attend the 3 soup kitchens then established here in Thurles during the 1845 to 1849 period.

All tours on the day will be accompanied by a guide.

This event will be followed later in the evening by the second annual Famine Memorial multi denomination service which will take place in St. Mary’s Church also on Sunday next, 15th November at 8.00 pm. This ceremony will be conducted by the Rector of St. Mary’s, Rev Peter Cole-Baker assisted by local historian Rev. Monsignor Dr. Maurice Dooley, latter retired parish priest of Loughmore, who will also preach the sermon. Music for this famine memorial service will be provided by members and musicians of the Thurles Cathedral Youth Choir and Phoenix Productions under the direction of local Councillor & Solicitor Mr. Gerard O’Brien.

A warm invitation is issued to all who wish to attend any part of this full day event on Sunday next and elderly persons are advised to come early for the memorial service to ensure seating.

Front and rear gates to St. Mary’s Church will be open, to allow for easy access and car parking.

Holycross Novena - 8th to 16th September 2009

The annual nine day Solemn Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help will commence in Holycross Abbey, Thurles , Co.Tipperary, on Tuesday next September 8th and continue daily until Wednesday, September 16th .  The Abbey’s parish priest is presently Rev.Fr. Thomas Breen.

Mass Times for this years Solemn Novena

Holycross Abbey 1841

Holycross Abbey 1841

Daily Times

Abbey: 7.00 a.m. – 10.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. – 7.30. p.m. – 9.30. p.m.
Marquee: 10.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. – 7.30 p.m. – 9.30 p.m.
(Note: Confessions before, during and after each session.)

Sunday Times

Abbey: 7.00 a.m. – 10.30 a.m. – 12.30. p.m. – 2.30. p.m. – 7.30 p.m. 9.30 p.m.
Marquee: 10.30. a.m. – 12.30. p.m. – 2.30. p.m. – 7.30. p.m. and 9.30. p.m.
(Special Note: Special ceremony for the sick (anointing of the sick) on Saturday 2.30 p.m. during the Novena.)

During this Solemn Novena each year thousands of Christian pilgrims gather at this historic Abbey, in search and, more importantly, often finding the spiritual and natural healing they so earnestly seek in their lives.

History Of  Holycross Abbey

The Holy Cross Abbey (Mainistir na Croise Naofa)  is a now a beautifully restored Cistercian monastery in the village of Holycross, five miles from Thurles town.  Situated on the River Suir (Abhainn na Siúire) this Abbey takes its name from a relic of the True Cross or Holy Rood. The fragment of that Holy Rood was brought to Ireland by the French Plantagenet Queen Isabella of Angouleme, in approximately 1233.

The beautiful Queen Isabella (1188 – 1246) was the second wife, and then widow of King John (1166 -1216 – Legendary enemy of English folklore hero Robin Hood). Queen Isabella married King John at the tender age of 12 years becoming mother of Henry 111, (Henry of Winchester). Following King John’s death she remarried one Hugh X of Lusignan and during her two marriages she gave issue to 14 children all of whom survived into adulthood.

Queen Isabella bestowed this relic on the original Cistercian Monastery in Thurles, which she then had reconstructed and from hence it derives it’s present name, ‘Holy Cross Abbey’.

Following the attempted dissolution of the monasteries through the Tudor conquest and the Cromwellian War (1649 – 1653), HolyCross Abbey slowly fell into ruins towards the middle of the 17th century, and instead now slowly become a place for public burial, amid its ruins, particularly after 1740.

Following special legislation in the Irish Parliament (il Éireann) on its 50th anniversary,(21st of January 1969),  Holy Cross Abbey was rightfully restored as a place of Roman Catholic worship and was correctly recognised primarily as a national Irish monument of great exception.

The Sacristan of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome provided an authenticated relic of the Holy Cross, and the emblem of the Jerusalem Cross, also referred too as the Crusader Cross, has now been returned to the Abbey.

The thousands of tourists who make a pilgrimage to Holycross each year from all over the world, speak of the Abbey’s great beauty, peace and serenity.

Renault Car Winner

Thurles-ParishLucky Ann Marie Purcell-Hennessy pictured here being presented with the keys of her new Renault car which she won by supporting the Thurles Parish Car Draw.

Thurles Parish is grateful to all those who have supported this draw which has generated €87,958.00 of the €1,315,260.00 total collected to date.

Also in the picture is Fr. Martin Hayes, Adm., James Hennessy, Ann Purcell and Fr. Tom Lanigan-Ryan.

Note the fund raising target for this refurbishment is €2.5 million.

Meanwhile work is continuing at the Bothar-Na-Naomh complex where the construction of ‘Meeting Room’ facilities and the refurbishment of the presbytery are due to be completed by September of this year.

Aisling Butler - Trinity College Memorial Service Of Remembrance And Thanksgiving

john_hegarty

A Memorial Service of Remembrance and Thanksgiving will be held on Wednesday 10th June 2009 at 5.00pm in the College Chapel at Trinity College Dublin.

As attendance at the Chapel Service is by invitation only to accommodate to the fullest extent the relatives and many friends (including all classmates) and colleagues of the girls, all other attendees are requested to attend at the Public Theatre where there will be a live video link directly to the Chapel Service.

Trinity Provost Dr John Hegarty stated:

“The College community is deeply saddened by the loss of our graduates, Aisling Butler, Jane Deasy and Eithne Walls, in the Air France tragedy. The loss of such young, vibrant and promising women at the outset of their careers in medicine and in such tragic circumstances has stunned us all. Our thoughts are with the families and their former classmates at this difficult time. All are most welcome to join the College in remembering and celebrating Aisling, Jane and Eithne at the Memorial Service in the Public Theatre tomorrow.”

butler-mourning-cermBooks of Condolences which are currently located in the Enquiries Office will be outside the Public Theatre for the Memorial Service, should those in attendance wish to sign them.

Last evening over 1,000 mourners prayed at an emotional memorial service for the recovery of the remains of the  three Irish doctors who died when the plane they were travelling on crashed into the Atlantic Ocean last week. An hour before the service began, mourners began arriving filling the church to capacity 15 minutes before the mass started. The family and friends of Dr Aisling Butler cried openly and embraced each other during a heartrending mass which was celebrated in Aishling’s Parish Church in Roscrea, Co Tipperary.

In his homily,local  parish priest Fr Tom Corbett described Dr Aisling Butler as “a lovely daughter, gifted woman, great human being and fun-loving friend whose sudden and mysterious death had brought anguish, grief and desolation to her family“.

Referring poignantly to the continuing search for bodies in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil, he stated to mourners that “it is our fervent wish that we will bury Aisling here in this church”.

Fr. Corbett further stated:-

“The three young doctors, carers of the living and lovers of life, were friends on the journey of life and lived for each other, but now by a distant accident had died, together, leaving us all greatly deprived of their great skills”.

Aisling Butler – Hundreds Pay Tribute

dr-a-butlerA special memorial Mass will take place in Roscrea, Co.Tipperary at 8pm next Tuesday for Dr Aisling Butler. Dr Butler is one of three young medical doctors now feared dead after an Air France jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on a flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris with 228 people on board. Her grieving family, friends and colleagues will be joined by a deeply shocked local community at the ceremony .

Parish Priest Fr Tom Corbett said the thoughts of everyone were with the Butler family.

Aisling’s parents, John and Evelyn and her sister Lorna, have received hundreds of messages of support at their home over the last few days.

John Butler is a well-known businessman in Tipperary through his management of  Adare International Transport. A family solicitor stated the Butler family were still attempting to come to terms with this tragedy.

Staff at Aisling’s former school, the Ursuline Secondary School in Thurles, were said to be in shock when they heard of what happened.

The principal, Sr Berchmans Whelan, said all 135 students who completed their leaving certificate in the Tipperary school alongside Aisling in 2001 would be invited to a special Mass to commemorate her life.

A date for this school memorial Mass will be finalised as soon as the Leaving and Junior Certificate exams at the school draw to a close.

Trinity College, Dublin said it would will also hold a service for Aisling and her two comrades, all who graduated from the college after studying medicine. But college authorities said they were waiting until an appropriate time for the families before releasing further details.

Meanwhile the search for the Air France jet and its passengers continues roughly 400 miles (640 kilometers) northeast of the Fernando de Noronha islands off Brazil’s northern coast.

Dr Vincent O'Brien - Special Tribute From President Mary McAleese

The President of Ireland Mrs Mary McAleese has paid a special tribute to horse trainer Dr Michael Vincent O’Brien who, sadly, died yesterday.

President McAleese said:

“As one of the most successful horse trainers in the industry, he played a key role in the establishment of Ireland as a centre of racing excellence”.

Dr O’Brien returned from his wife’s family home in Perth, Western Australia, just last week due to ill-health and died yesterday at his home in Straffan,County Kildare. Dr O’Brien was the owner of the Ballydoyle yard and the Coolmore stud, situated in the richest farmland in Europe,  near Fethard, Cashel, Co. Tipperary and enjoyed over 75 major victories in a career that spanned more than 50 years in horse racing.

The current incumbent of Ballydoyle, Mr Aidan O’Brien said:

“It is with the greatest sadness that I learned of the passing of Dr Vincent O’Brien today.  As for so many people in racing, he was my hero growing up. For my wife Anne Marie and myself to come to Ballydoyle, to the training facility he established, was an extraordinary privilege. Dr O’Brien was tireless in improving the yards and gallops and we enjoy today the benefits of his half-century of hard work and dedication”.

vincent-obrienThe 92 year old Dr O’Brien was born in Churchtown, Co Cork in 1917.  He was voted,  in 2003, as the greatest National Hunt Trainer of the 20th century, and was later voted the greatest Flat Trainer of the 20th century. In a pole to find the greatest figure in the history of horse racing hosted by the Racing Post newspaper, Vincent O’Brien came first with 28% of the total vote, with his long-time stable jockey Lester Piggott placed second out of a pool of 100 contenders who had been carefully selected by a panel of racing experts.

Vincent O’Brien married author and photographer Jacqueline Wittenoom, from Perth, Australia, in 1951 and had five children. Daughters Elizabeth (widow of Kevin McClory), Susan (wife of John Magnier) and Jane (wife of Philip Myerscough); and sons Charles and David who followed in their father’s footsteps as trainers, as did Vincent’s grandson David Myerscough. Grandsons J P Magnier and M V Magnier have ridden with success as amateur jockeys.

Dr O’Brien and his wife Jacqueline latterly spent half of each year in her home town of Perth, Australia and the remainder of the year in Straffan,Co. Kildare , here in Ireland

Dr Vincent O’Brien’s funeral will take place at St Conleth’s Church in Newbridge at noon on Thursday next, followed by a private cremation. (Family flowers only)

The O’Brien family would be very grateful for donations, in lieu of flowers, to be made to The Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Funeral arrangements will be by Fanagans Funeral Directors 54 Aungiers Street, Dublin 2, Dublin.