Fr Kieran O'Mahony OSA (1951-2026)

Kieran O'Mahony as seen on his website, www.tarsus.ie

Today, 28th August, is the feast day of St Augustine. The Pope, as everyone knows, is an Augustinian and, for a long time here in Ireland, the Augustinian priest Fr O'Mahony was also very well known. His death ten days ago (see here) came as a big surprise. He set up his own website named after St Paul of Tarsus (www.tarsus.ie) which was a very valuable resource for reading the Bible. Many visitors to this parish website (now blog) must have visited it over the years (see link 'Reading the Bible', left side-bar) and greatly appreciated the work that Kieran put into it. The home page gives us his approach:

The goal of this website is to open people's minds and hearts to the Word of God. The ordinary person experiences Scripture mostly through the readings at public worship. Accordingly, my own emphasis will be on the Sunday and daily readings as found in the Catholic lectionary. This lectionary is not too different from the Revised Common Lectionary and my sincere hope is that the resources found here might be used across the Christian traditions. 

This last statement expresses a laudable ecumenical spirit. 

On the great saint's feast day, then, ten days after the passing into the next life of his faithful follower, Fr Kieran O'Mahony, this line from the Confessions can nicely include them both, the final words echoing the usual prayer for the deceased, RIP (requiscat in pace):

Fecisti nos ad te, et inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in te ("You have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you"). 

The Signs of the Times in our Dioceses

For a better view, click here.

Call for Courage in Dublin Diocese

From Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Dermot Farrell's Sermon for Pentecost Sunday, 24th May 2026:

"Our world has changed and is continuing to change. Parishes are changing too and need to find new expression, allowing new forms of pastoral care to emerge, ‘from which Christian witness can shine for the world’. (Dicastery for the Clergy, The Pastoral Conversion of the Parish Community in the Service of the Evangelising Mission of the Church, 2020, 123).

"It is in this spirit and in this hope that this Pentecost Letter puts before the Diocese a process which provides for initial reflection in parishes on their future. This process also sets out the formal steps to be taken, together with the Archbishop, when new parish structures and relationships are being considered: Process for the Modification of Parishes for Mission (May 2026)."

Call for Courage in Limerick Diocese

Bishop Brendan Leahy, Irish Catholic, 18th May '26

From Bishop Leahy's letter read in Limerick churches, Sunday 14th June '26 (see here):

"[T]he Church is entering a period that will require difficult decisions and new ways of working and a broadening of volunteerism across parishes. [. . .]  We must also be honest about the challenges ahead. Many of the proposals brought forward are excellent, but they come at a time when both clergy and parishioners are ageing, and when the pool of volunteers is smaller than before. We cannot keep asking the same faithful people to take on more. [. . .]  [T]he future vitality of parish life will depend increasingly on the willingness of lay people to become actively involved in ministry and leadership. Unless more people are willing to become actively involved in the life of the parish, many of the aspirations and proposals that emerged from the parish consultations will be difficult to realise. The call for more lay involvement is not abstract, it is real and urgent." [This blog editor's emphasis]

The parish consultations referred to may be found here: Parish Consultation Report.

Distant Views of Saggart Church

Looking east from Rathcoole Park

Looking west from Carrigmore Park, Citywest

Aerial view  (Google Earth)

Thursday 2nd to Sunday 5th April

St Patrick hears the voice of the Irish

Monument to St. Patrick, Westport

I thought I heard in my mind the voice of those who were beside the wood of Foclut, near the western sea, calling out "We beg you, holy boy, to come and walk again among us”. This touched my heart deeply."  

"Rogamus te, sancte puer, ut venias et adhuc ambulas inter nos." (From St Patrick's Confession. Note 'Rogamus te' abbreviated to RGMS TE on monument panel)

Hearing this call was a turning point in the life-story of St Patrick as told in his Confession. Born in Britain, he had been taken captive by some Irishmen and brought to Ireland. Later he escaped back to Britain where he went for the priesthood and was eventually consecrated bishop (read his biography  here). It was at this stage that visitors from Ireland came with a letter for him. In reading it, Bishop Patrick was moved by the appeal that it contained to come back again -- of his own free will and for a much friendlier welcome this time. The Westport scene depicts his landing in Ireland.

The Confession is contained in the Book of Armagh and is dated to the early 9th century. Like the Book of Kells, this Book has happily been digitized by Trinity College Dublin, allowing us to see the original text (here). Our extract is found on Folio 23v, c. three-quarters way down the second column -- in the reproduction below, lines 6-7. (The last line ends with amplius non potui legere, i.e. my heart was so touched that I could not read any more.) As can be seen, the superb ornamentation of the Gospels in the Book of Kells far outshines the more ordinary script found in the Book of Armagh.  

TCD Book of Armagh, Folio 23v

As for the google digital script used here in the 21st century, the writer sees he is returning to a topic first dealt with ten years ago in 2016 (here), this time with a precious view of the original manuscript. 

May our lives continue to unfold fruitfully for us all, especially when, like St Patrick, at a certain moment in our life's journey, we feel we hear a silent call to start down a road that seems to be opening up for us -- in the traditional phrase, 'our vocation'. 

Year A (Matthew), Gospel for 2nd Sunday of Lent

The gospel for this Sunday is from Matthew 17, which tells the story of the Transfiguration. To tie in with the putting up of a link to the Book of Kells in our Readings section (left side-bar), we're showing the first four verses of this gospel as they are found in this national and religious treasure from the 8th century (see top right of page, 'Math.XVII'). The original manuscript is held in TCD and there also now exists a splendid and much more accessible edition online -- there at our fingertips (p. or Folio 79) with no more long waiting in queues!  A wonder, isn't it?  A transcription of the original Latin as well as an English translation can be found here. (The 'original Latin' referred to here is that of the Vulgate, i.e. the translation by St Jerome in the fourth century of the truly original version written in Greek in the first century.)

The Book of Kells, of course, is famous for its amazingly elaborate illustrations, none of which appear on the page featured here. Explore them for yourself now!

PS (i.e. [= id est], 'Post Scriptum' -- everyday Latin!)  There are some small differences between the Kells edition and the transcribed edition: (1) adsumpsit :: assumit (l. 2), duxit illos :: ducit illos (l. 4), past tense in first, present in second; (2) apparuit :: apparuerunt, singular in first, plural in second. 

More puzzling is the following: 'his clothing became white as snow' (l. 8). 'White' is 'alfa' in Kells, and 'alba' in the transcription.  Q. Now is that really an 'f' we see in 'alfa'?  A. It's the same letter as in 'facies' ('face', l. 8), is it not?  Q.  Well, show us you, then, what it should be.  A. Ok. Compare, 'bonum est' ('it is good'), in l. 11. This shows us, does it not, what a 'b' is?   Q. Where does all this leave us, then?  A. Not too sure, really. Anyway, for the poor monk's sake that put so much effort into his writing, with all its marvellous art and penmanship, we'll just whisper sub secreto, ' A possible lapsus calami?', and keep it to ourselves. 

Appeal for More Sunday Readers in Saggart

Dear Online Reader / Saggart Parishioner, 

The 'About Me' notice on the home page of this blog (bottom, right sidebar) will tell you who the writer of this letter is. And we can call this letter a first, since I've never before written one to you!

As well as looking after the parish blog (from 2010 to 2022 the official parish website), I also organise readers for the Sunday Mass in Saggart, a task I inherited from Liam Roche in 2017. I volunteered to read in St Mary's two years after my arrival in Saggart (1995), spurred on to do so when I saw, to my amazement, that the only readers appeared to be Liam and two girl altar servers. As I look round now over thirty years later, I can say, 'Big improvement, certainly' but will quickly add, ‘still, a bit of a crunch point again as regards readers'.  

Naturally, a place changes considerably in many respects over a period of thirty years. Saggart has grown bigger and now has a very diverse population, in terms of geographical and linguistic background. This is seen in the attendance at Sunday Mass. All of us, don’t we, whether well settled or recent parishioners, wish to be part of, and help in some way to build up, the local (parish) community. Such building up will depend on what we feel we have to offer, in the hope that it will be gratefully received.

Which brings me to reading at Mass. What we have to offer depends on our talents. Each person has talents that s/he can offer to society (cf 'charisms' in St Paul, 1 Cor. 12). For example, a person with a fine singing voice will soon find an outlet and a welcome for that talent. A fine speaking voice may also be seen as a gift to be offered to society. As a teacher of English for forty years I very quickly noticed which students I could rely on to read well in class, i.e. out loud and clear. We can all agree, then, that a class ‒ or, in church, a congregation, ‒ calls for a good speaker, good in the sense of natural talent and appropriate training.  So, right attitude, yes, of course, but also good public-speaking ability. (For more on this subject, see the post of 9th March 2024 here). 

If you feel you could offer your services as reader (‘Minister of the Word’ or ‘Lector’), then please contact me at donalpmcmahon@gmail.com. Just in case the above seems to you to be setting the bar too high, let me add that myself and my wife Mary, also a Saggart reader, will be very happy to provide some training, if needed (see the blog notice here). There is also the possibility of gaining experience by sharing the Prayers of the Faithful with one of the official readers.

I wish you a very Happy, Healthy and Fruitful New Year ‒ fruitful possibly now too in the area of reading at Mass.

Thank you,                                                                                

Donal McMahon.  

Report, 10 Feb. 2026   So far, there has been no response to this appeal.   

Christmas Eve 2025

Christmas Card designed by Bryan MacMahon

For information on Bryan MacMahon see here. The card is taken from retired Listowel teacher Mary Cogan's site, 'Listowel Connection' (see here -- scroll down to 17 December 2021).

Mass Times for Christmas

Saggart Carol Service Photos

                              Daniel Kenna with family              click to enlarge

Fiona and Fr Joseph 

Adeste Fideles! Sunday 14th, 7.30pm

click to enlarge

Two Headline News Stories

The above two photos are taken from this week's Irish Catholic newspaper published last Thursday 20th. The events they illustrate are certainly worth recording here. The top photo shows Fr Michael Shortall (left) presiding for the first time as President of Maynooth College at the annual conferring ceremony. On the right is Archbishop Eamon Martin who, as Chancellor of the University whose degress were being awarded (i.e. SPPU, St Patrick's Pontifical University), presented these to the happy students one by one. (The caption, I'm afraid, gets the roles mixed up -- it is Archbishop Eamon who is Chancellor, not Rev. Dr Michael.)

The other photo shows Archbishop Dermot Farrell announcing a truly historic event, i.e. the recognition by Rome of Dublin's Pro-Cathedral as a cathedral in the full sense of the word, no longer hyphenated somewhat awkwardly and puzzlingly as before but a cathedral now with all the high status that comes with that title. 

And so we have the students in SPPU overjoyed on receiving their award from Rome in the form of a degree and Archbishop Dermot (former President of Maynooth) jubilantly sharing another document from Rome granting the Archdiocese of Dublin a cathedral at last. Everyone happy -- a degree for the students and a papal decree for the Catholic faithful of Dublin!

Fr Andrew Hart's 210th Anniversary, died 20.11.1815

Ten years ago we celebrated the bicentenary of the death of Fr Andrew Hart, P.P. of the United Parishes of Saggart, Rathcoole and Newcastle. He died at the age of 30 after only three years in office. His striking and life-like effigy is to be seen in St Mary's on the right-hand side of the nave, head turned towards the altar. The pull-up nearby (designed by the writer) gives us a summary of his short but fruitful life. (For more reading, about Andrew Hart's bicentenary as well as about the bicentenary two years earlier of the church which he erected, i.e. St Finian's, Newcastle, use the Search box on this page.)

Now we have something small but very original to mark this 210th. It is the brief but eloquent announcement of his death in Saunders's News Letter, Tuesday, 21st November 1815, here being re-read in the original (now digitized) for the first time since its publication. The holdings for this paper in our National Library are from 1828 (see here), whereas the British Library ones are complete.

From www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

As well, then, as our parishioners being remembered this month at special Masses (tomorrow in Rathcoole, near 'Greenoak' (i.e. Greenogue)), we can spare a thought and prayer for the deceased of times gone by, even very long gone by, as is the case with Andrew Hart. 

Feast of All Souls, Sunday 2nd November

We remember at this time of year our loved ones who have left us. They lived out their vocation as best they could and, in doing so, contributed a small but inestimably valuable part to mankind's onward progress -- in Christian terms, the building up of the mystical body of Christ. We will remember them on Sunday, the Feast of All Souls, and throughout the month, in particular at the annual Masses for the Dead taking place in Newcastle (Friday 14th., 7.30 p.m.) and Rathcoole (Friday 21st, 7.30 p.m.). 

Each person, lay or clerical, has an unfathomably rich and mysterious life-story or vocaton. We focused in our last post on vocations to the diocesan priesthood yesterday and today. The photo of the Clonliffe students in 1960 showed our own John Jacob (died 8th March this year). Martin Tierney was ordained in the same year as Fr John (1964). From Clare, he served in the diocese of Dublin. He can be seen on the very right, fourth row from the front (with glasses). He wrote several books, two of them in his final years (click on photos below to enlarge): No Second Chance: Reflections of a Dublin Priest (Columba Press, 2010) and Battling the Storm: A Cancer Patient's Diary (written as a series for the Irish Catholic newspaper in 2009, published in 2010 by Veritas after his death that year in May, aged 71 -- click on the Read More bar below for final two pages, 102-03).

Each one of us sees (or 'discerns') a chance or opportunity (offered by Providence, as faith says and hope clings to) and goes on to live out their life in service to others as best they can, finding fulfilment in what comes but also, at times, no doubt, like Fr Martin here, 'battling storms'. 'I am left trying to answer the deeper questions like, what is God's plan for my life? I must believe that, somehow, God is directing what is happening at the moment.'  Over the coming weeks we will remember in our thoughts and prayers all those in our parish cemeteries and beyond who followed their call (all the time trying to make it out more clearly) and gave it their all.

News about Maynooth

Dunboyne House, Maynooth College

Students are starting their studies in colleges all over Ireland right now, many in Maynooth University, others in Maynooth's Pontifical University, others still (very few) in the National Seminary of Maynooth. Yes, the College is unique in having these three constituent parts, i.e. secular university, pontifical university (i.e. offering courses approved by Rome) and seminary for the training of priests for all the Irish dioceses (and some foreign ones too). Now up to the year 2000, Dublin diocese had its own seminary, a fine account of which was published in 1962 all about the centenary celebrations in 1959. It contains a photo taken in 1960 of the college's 109 clerical students (pick out our own John Jacob (second row from front, fourth in from the right) who died on 8th March this year and is buried in Saggart graveyard): 

Fr Richard Sherry, Holy Cross College Clonliffe, 
Dublin: Irish Printers Ltd, 1962, p.188

  

Now for the news about Maynooth. There are 2 students for the Dublin diocese in Maynooth this coming academic year, compared to over 100 in Clonliffe in 1960. That fact must make us all think about and try to understand the great changes that have taken place since those flourishing times for priestly vocations sixty years ago. 

Congratulations to Fr Liam Belton on his Golden Jubilee

Ballinteer and Meadowbrook Parish Newsletter, Sun. 25 May 2025

Fr Liam Belton served in our parish from 1998 to 2004. After eleven years in Greystones, in 2015 he was appointed Parish Priest and Moderator of the Pastoral area of Dundrum, Ballinteer and Meadowbrook.  The photo below was taken at the Jubilee Mass in Ballinteer on the 14th June.

The Irish Catholic, 26 June 2025, p.15

On Sunday 28th June, Fr / Canon Liam celebrated another Mass, this time in St Mary's, Barndarrig, Co. Wicklow, in the parish where he grew up. 

Photo from Facebook page for St Mary's, Barndarrig

Here too, then, let us offer Fr Liam  our thanks and congratulations for all he did among us and among so many before and after us during his fifty years as a priest.

Butterflies on mid-summer's eve

 

Driving through Newcastle yesterday, at the lights after the petrol station I saw someone painting on what I now know as a 'junction box' (for more on this, see here, for such 'street art' in our South Dublin Council area, see here, and you might also like to visit the Irish Butterfly Website here ). As we all have noticed over the past number of years, these boxes as well as electrical ones display some very eye-catching scenes. Isn't it lovely to see colour used creatively at the heart of ordinary life, as we walk or drive hurriedly by, our mind focused on the task in hand?  I parked my car further up and came back to have a word with the artist.  Young Tamara has been living in Newcastle now for four years with her family and is doing the art work she loves for Newcastle Tidy Towns. I took the first photo while she worked, and the second when, returning to Saggart in the evening, I saw the finished product. The butterfly looks like it's taking flight for the lovely flowers in the wildlife garden behind!

It's a red admiral and, coincidence, another has alighted on the front page of the current issue of the Far East, the magazine brought out by the Columban Missionaries we all used read long ago in the 50s / 60s!  

Ave atque (heu!) vale, Veritas. Hello and (alas!) Goodbye, Veritas

A reflection on how seldom I go to town now obviously, but I was taken completely aback when, getting off the Luas from Saggart recently in Lower Abbey Street, I saw no familiar Veritas sign winking at me, as it were, on my arrival in the city. Yes, I knew about the closure of their branch in Tallaght Square Shopping Centre on the 17th May last year (see here) and now here I was seeing (and believing as best I could) their HQ in Dublin gone for ever. In fact, it has been closed a good while, since Friday, 10th January. It opened in 1928 (read its history here). How many times over how many years was I inside, browsing away and buying too, of course! A lectionary was my last big purchase (for a certain church). So what a shock!  

Round the corner, as you know, brings you up Marlborough Street to the Pro-Cathedral. Dublin's seminary, Clonliffe College, closed in 1999.  Last Sunday a 'Lay Ministry Appeal' was publicized by the diocese. Signs of the times -- times changing so fast.  But, in this Jubilee Year of Hope, we try to remain hopeful that change, finally, is for the better.  After all, "To live is to change," said St John Henry Newman -- who knew Dublin well from living here in the 1850s. 

Habemus Papam Pope Leo XIV

For more photos, see here, while here we can follow his address given from the balcony above. Today, with a congregation made up of the cardinals who elected him yesterday, he said his first Mass as Pope in the Sistine Chapel.  The Mass was said in Latin and Italian, but the first reading, we note in the Mass booklet, was in English, while the second was in Spanish. A truly memorable moment was when the Pope, the first Pope to be a native speaker of English, opened his sermon with the words: "I begin with a word in English, the rest is in Italian," (37  minutes into the Mass). That was surely a truly historic moment, leaving us with a wonderful world-wide sampling of languages ‒ linguistic unity-in-diversity.  To which, let us now add our own: "Go mbeannaí Dia é mar Phápa agus sinn go léir leis".

See the BBC documentary, The Conclave, here.

click to enlarge

Electing a New Pope

                          Eligo in summum pontificem        (Washington Post)

Morning Mass in St Peter's, Wed. 7th May, Election Day

Listening to the sermon, weighing things up