08 October 2018

Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin
notes in ‘Newslink’ October 2018

Canon Patrick Comerford lifts the Sam Maguire Cup in Saint Molua’s Church, Ardagh, during the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Ardagh Chalice

Canon Patrick Comerford lifts the Sam Maguire Cup in Saint Molua’s Church, Ardagh, during the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the ArdaghChalice

Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes

Rathkeale, Askeaton, Castletown and Kilnaughtin

Priest-in-Charge: The Revd Canon Patrick Comerford,
The Rectory, Askeaton, Co Limerick.

Autumn has brought with it the return to school, harvest thanksgiving services, meetings of select vestries, school boards and the graveyard committee, and a new cycle of diocesan committees and church meetings.

Sunday School in Rathkeale:

Shirley Sheahan began new Sunday School activities in in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, on Sunday 9 September. All children in the Group of Parishes are welcome at Sunday School in Rathkeale on the second and fourth Sunday of the month.

Ministry Mission and Hospitality:

The clergy and readers in the diocese are being encouraged to find ways of working closer together in Ministry, Mission and Hospitality, in identifiable areas or districts. Already, a number of meetings have taken place in both the bishop’s house and the dean’s office. Priests and readers in Co Limerick are being invited to a ‘Ministry Lunch’ in the Rectory in Askeaton on Wednesday 14 November.

Ardagh Chalice:

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Ardagh Chalice and the Ardagh Hoard in West Limerick, one of the most significant archaeological finds in Ireland in the 19th century. The Ardagh Chalice is one of the greatest treasures of the early Irish Church. It represents a high point in early mediaeval craftsmanship and its craftsmanship can be compared with the Tara Brooch and the Derrynaflan Paten.

The chalice is part of a hoard of objects discovered in Rearasta Fort on the edges of Ardagh in late September 1868 by Paddy Flanagan and Jim Quinn while they were digging potatoes in the fort.

The hoard consisted of two chalices and four brooches. Each brooch was up to 30 cm in length and three had elaborate Celtic designs; the fourth was called a thistle brooch.

As part of Culture Night on 21 September, the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the Ardagh Chalice was celebrated in Ardagh with a parade from Rerasta Fort to Ardagh Church, and the official opening of the Ardagh Festival by Minister Pat O’Donovan at Ardagh Community Centre.

Greek fire:

The funds raised at the joint group service and parish summer barbeque have now reached €350, which is going to help the victims of the recent fires in the Athens region in Greece.

Ministry training and education:

The next Ministry Training and Education day takes place in the Rectory, Askeaton, on Monday 15 October, looking at how to plan for Remembrance Day on this year’s centenary of the end of World War I.

October services:

Friday 4 October: 8 p.m., Group Harvest Thanksgiving Service, Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale, followed by Harvest Auction in Rathkeale No 2 National School.

Sunday 7 October (Trinity XIX): 9.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert.

Sunday 14 October (Trinity XX): 9.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Castletown Church; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale (with Sunday School).

Sunday 21 October (Trinity XXI): 9.30, Morning Prayer, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton; 11.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert; 2.30, Holy Baptism (Beatrice Susan Langford), Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton.

Sunday 28 October (V before Advent; Saint Simon and Saint Jude): 9.30 a.m., Morning Prayer, Castletown Church; 11.30, the Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2), Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale (with Sunday School).

Thursday 1 November (All Saints’ Day): 11 a.m., the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton.

Saints days in October: 11, Saint Philip the Deacon; 18, Saint Luke; 23, Saint James, the Brother of our Lord; 28, Saint Simon and Saint Jude.

Advance notice:

Remembrance Sunday Service: Sunday 11 November, 11 a.m., Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale. This is a united service for the group of parishes, with a time of silence and commemoration at 11 minutes past 11, on 11 November.

The Ardagh Chalice on display in the National Museum in Kildare Street, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

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