There were plenty of smiles in Rathdowney on Wednesday as two Irish celebrities were in town for a very special occasion.
A friendship that flourished over 35 years between the parish priest, Fr Martin Delaney, and Daniel O’Donnell, saw the renowned singer and his wife, Majella, officially open the town’s new community garden.
The community garden opening got underway when popular local singer, another Martin Delaney, began the afternoon’s entertainment.
The blessing ceremony was led by the Catholic and Church of Ireland bishops of Ossory, Dr. Niall Coll and the Right Reverend Adrian Wilkinson. Both bishops have just been appointed in recent months.
While Bishop Wilkinson has already celebrated Confirmation in Rathdowney in May, this was Bishop Coll’s first official visit to the parish. The two new bishops have come to Ossory from opposite ends of the country.
Bishop Wilkinson spent 20 years working in Cork before becoming bishop earlier this year. Bishop Coll has spent most of his ministry teaching in Belfast and working in parishes in his native Co. Donegal.
The Donegal flavour to the afternoon of celebration in Rathdowney continued following the blessing when Daniel and Majella O’Donnell officially launched the community garden.
The new community garden is located at the site which in recent years has been known locally as ‘the shrine.’ It was originally the location of the old Catholic Church begun in 1818.
It was the first Catholic church built within the town of Rathdowney since the Reformation. The first Mass was celebrated in the new church on Christmas Day 1820.
In the early 1950s the church was replaced by the present Holy Trinity Church. The church at the shrine was demolished. Over the years some efforts have been made to develop the shrine area and these included the erection of the statue of Our Lady and the provision of car parking spaces.
To mark the bicentenary of the building of the church, a local development group embarked on a project to develop the shrine area as an amenity for the entire community.
The project encountered many challenges, obstacles and missed deadlines. Covid 19 scuppered the plans to have it completed for the 200th anniversary of the opening of the original church.
However, persistence pays off and the garden was designed by Wexford-based landscape architect, Derek Howlin and the work was carried out by local contractor, Michael Madden, assisted by Kieran O’Dea.
Kieran also carried out the first phase of the project which involved building a new grotto using the stone originally used in the building of the church back in the late 1800s.
In the coming years and as funding streams become available, further work will be carried out to enhance the space.
Mary Delaney from Rathdowney captured some brilliant pictures of the occasion.
Check them out below:
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