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Ballina and Boher Parish Jubilee Year Review A pictorial record of some of the events that happened in the parish in the year 2000. See if you can spot any familiar faces? Palm
Sunday 2000 in Boher
Holy
Week began in Boher this year with a very special ceremony. With some lovely
sunshine on our side we started Mass a little earlier than usual, at 10.15am
with the blessing of the palms by Fr. Tom Lanigan Ryan. This part of the
liturgy took place outside Boher School and then everyone processed with blessed
palm in hand down the short distance to Boher Church for Mass.
To commemorate the Lord’s entrance in to Jerusalem, our
little procession was lead by ‘Milly’ a young donkey owned by Con and Jackie
Frawley. The children of Boher School all dressed up in Biblical costumes and
the donkey (after a few days practicing!) was ably steered by Martin Kennedy who
played the part of Jesus.
Ballina and
Killaloe are both situated together on opposite banks of Ireland’s longest
river, the Shannon. The area is renowned as an important inland waterway and
attracts many visitors who come to fish or simply stop off for a break at one of
the local hotels, bars or guesthouses.
On
Sunday 9th July a special ecumenical Blessing of Boats and
Pleasure Craft took place on the pier outside Galloping Hogan’s Restaurant
(the old railway station). Many of the boat owners availed of the opportunity to
have their boats blessed and soon enough a fleet had docked close to the pier
for the ceremony.
The ritual, which included prayers for protection for all who
use this local amenity and the sprinkling of the boats with Holy Water, was
presided over by Fr. Edmond O’Rahelly, P.P. Ballina, Fr. Tom Lanigan Ryan,
C.C. and Rev. Nicholas Cummins, Dean of Killaloe. The Gospel reading was from
Mt.14; 22-33, ‘Jesus walks on water’. The choir from Our Lady and St.
Lua’s Church, Ballina provided a musical accompaniment for the occasion.
Members
of the local angling clubs and many boating enthusiasts took part and this
ceremony is set to become an important annual event.
The Mass rock at Killary
As
we crossed the threshold into a new millennium, the publication of Ballina/Boher
Parish; Our History and Traditions by Kevin M. & Kevin A. Griffin
sparked off a renewal of interest in local history.
Looking
to the future, this valuable resource provides us with an opportunity to take a
look back at the parish in times gone by. The book traces the history of our
churches and throws light on the existence of a mass rock in the townsland of
Killary, about 5km from Ballina.
As part of our celebrations for the Jubilee year, the first
Mass in over 200 years was celebrated there on Sunday 12th November
2000. The Millennium committee erected signs up the road through Grange and
Curraghviller as even some of the local people seemed unsure of the rock’s
actual location.
Nestling in the shade of Tountinna Mountain, Sally
McNamara’s field was the setting for a large gathering on an unusually bright
and pleasant November afternoon. The Mass was scheduled for 2pm but didn’t
start for another forty minutes because so many people of all ages wanted to
make their way down the lane through the gaps and over the stream to be present
at this sacred site, as generations had done before them.
The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Ted O’Rahelly assisted by Fr.
Tom Lanigan Ryan who in keeping with the tradition of the Penal times were
unrobed for the Mass. The Choir
under the direction of Sadie Scanlan led us in song, and some curious looking
cattle watching the proceedings in an adjoining field couldn’t help tuning in
also! Paddy Coleman captured the special occasion on video and we hope to
revisit Killary for Mass again in the near future.
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