06 July 2018

Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin
notes in ‘Newslink’ July 2018

Celebrating Trinity Sunday in Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale: Canon Patrick Comerford with the churchwardens, Niall West and Daphne Casey

Rathkeale and Kilnaughtin Group of Parishes

Rathkeale, Askeaton, Castletown and Kilnaughtin

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

Summer is often a quiet time in parishes throughout the Church of Ireland. But summer this year is filled with the news and joys of baptisms, engagements and weddings and choir visits, the fun of the parish barbeque and plans for the Harvest.

Recent visitors to the parish included clergy and readers who took part in a training day on liturgy and worship in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton. The Revd Michael Cavanagh of Kenmare introduced participants to creative ideas about family services and the Service of the Word, and Canon Patrick Comerford and Stephen Fletcher of Kilrush introduced a ‘Teaching Eucharist.’

Nicky White (Nantinan) and Rob Foley (Cork) are getting married in Saint Mary’s Church Askeaton on 7 July.

The engagement has been announced between Sarah Anne Drew, daughter of Ralph and Ann Drew, Ballyvogue, Askeaton, and Brian Dennehy of Listowel.

July has five Sundays in the month, so there is a joint group celebration of the Eucharist at the Rectory on Sunday 28 July, followed by the parish summer barbeque. All welcome!

July services:

Sunday 1 July (Trinity V): 9.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert.

Sunday 8 July (Trinity VI): 9.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Castletown Church; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale.

Sunday 15 July (Trinity VII): 9.30, Morning Prayer, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton; 11.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert.

Sunday 22 July (Trinity VIII and Saint Mary Magdalene): 9.30 a.m., Morning Prayer, Castletown Church; 11.30, the Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2), Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale.

Sunday 29 July (Trinity IX): Fifth Sunday joint celebration: 11 a.m., Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2), The Rectory, Askeaton, followed by Parish Barbeque. All Welcome.

August services:

Sunday 5 August (Trinity X): 9.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert.

Sunday 12 August (Trinity XI): 9.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Castletown Church; 11.30, Morning Prayer, Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale.

Sunday 19 August (Trinity XII): 9.30, Morning Prayer, Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton; 11.30, the Eucharist (Holy Communion), Saint Brendan’s Church, Kilnaughtin, Tarbert.

Sunday 26 August (Trinity XIII): 9.30 a.m., Morning Prayer, Castletown Church; 11.30, the Parish Eucharist (Holy Communion 2), Holy Trinity Church, Rathkeale.

Clergy and readers taking part in the recent training day on liturgy and worship in Saint Mary’s Church, Askeaton

Limerick-based writer publishes
new book on the Achill Mission

Canon Patrick Comerford and Patricia Byrne at the launch of Patricia Byrne’s new book, ‘The Preacher and the Prelate,’ in O’Mahony’s Bookshop, Limerick

Canon Patrick Comerford of the Rathkeale Group of Parishes was the guest speaker at the Limerick launch of a new book by the Limerick-based author Patricia Byrne, The Preacher and the Prelate: The Achill Mission Colony and the Battle for Souls in Famine Ireland.

Patricia Byrne’s new book, published by Merrion Press, tells the story of Canon Edward Nangle and the controversies stirred by his mission on Achill Island, Co Mayo, in the mid-19th century.

Speaking at the launch of her new book in O’Mahony’s Bookshop, O’Connell Street, Limerick, the author Patricia Byrne said: ‘Researching and writing this book took five years of my life. It was an obsession really for those five years. The story is raw, tempestuous, tragic and trauma-filled. It is the story of one man’s attempt to transform an island.’

Limerick poet and playwright Mary Coll launched the book, and Canon Patrick Comerford, who also spoke at the launch has published many papers on the Achill Mission.

The Preacher and the Prelate tells the story of an audacious fight for souls on famine-ravaged Achill Island in the 19th century. The flood of hostility between Edward Nangle and John MacHale, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, exposed the faultlines in religion, society and politics in Victorian Ireland.

Patricia Byrne is a Mayo-born writer who lives in Limerick, Ireland. She writes narrative nonfiction and personal essays and is a graduate of the NUI Galway writer programme. Her first novel, The Veiled Woman of Achill: Island Outrage and a Playboy Drama, was published in 2012. Her work has featured in New Hibernia Review, The Irish Times, on RTÉ’s ‘Sunday Miscellany,’ and many other publications.

This news report is published in the July 2018 edition of ‘Newslink,’ the Limerick and Killaloe diocesan magazine