|
|
The
Church of St.
James in Ballinameela was 250 years old
recently. It was built by Fr.
Walliam Roche and to celebrate its
150th
year the church was given
a major face-lift both inside and outside. The Parish Priest Fr. Finbarr Lucey,
P.P., engaged a
Painting Contractor and Decorating Consultant to undertake the
task. The work was financed by the generous bequest of the late Mrs. Chris
Begley who for many years ran a well-known puplic house in Ballinameela. The
following is the Homily preached by Reverend Mon. Ml. Olden on Friday, 30th
November, 1990, in the newly restored Church in the presence of his Lordship Dr.
Michael Russell, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, former Priests of the united
Parishes of Aglish, Ballinameela and Mount Stuart, and a large attendance of
Parishioners. One of the greatest scholars who studied at Lismore and who is one of the best known Irish saints on the continent of Europe was in great probability, born within a short distance of this church. I spoke of St. Cathaldus whose tomb lies in the great cathedral of Taranto in southern from Italy. The late carinal Official not long before he died was staying with me in Kilsheelan and we were discussing places of his topical importance in the Deise region. “Tell me,” he said, “where is Cathy; would we have time to visit it?’’ I explained to him where it was but unfortunately we did not have the time to travel there. The Cardinal who was one of the greatest authorities on Irish saints in Europe enquired about Canty because in a medieval life of cathaldus written Italy it is stated several times that the saint was born in a place called Canty in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore in Ireland. The
priests and people of Ballinameela and indeed of the parish
Whitechurch and Kilmolash have every reason to celebrate the 150
anniversary of this handsome church
dedicated to St.
James . They have every reason to salute their forefathers and
mothers who stood here 1840 simple and proudly looked on the house of god which
they had raised on this historic area. There had been churches on this site
before 1840 simple thatched structures which though powerhouses of prayer would
have lacked the permanence and elegance. The big wind of 1839 may have hastened the building of this Church but it was the faith of a proud people which built it. They had reason to be proud and they had reason to have faith. Ever before Patrick came ever before Christianity was born this broad valley through which Brickey flows, was a centre of high civilisation and human activity. For archaeologists and scholars the caves of Kilgreany which lies between the townlands of Scart and Canty with Whitechurch on the North and Canty bridge on the South, have been an important source of vital information about Stone Age in Ireland. Excavations in Kilgreany took place as far back as 1858 and again in the 1890s when R.J. Usher of Cappagh made important discoveries. Very significant finds were made in a major archacological dig which was contons more than five thousand years old, remains of the Great Irish Elk, the Wild Boarand other animals which Neolithic man hunted, pottery and bronze axes and silver plated emblems. Local farmers such as Paddy Moroney who owned Kilgreany and John Keating of Knockmoan Bog found their names memorialised in scholarly books and treatisces on early Irish history and prehistory. By any yardstick Ballinameela (Baile na mBialac –Veales Homestead) and Whitechurch (Teampall Geal) are significant places cradles of a proud people. Cathaldus, having studied in Lismore in the 7th
century became a Bishop and is associated with Shanrahan in the Parish of
Clogheen. Like many early Irish Saints he travelled from Ireland . It seems that
his destination was the Holy Land, but, for some reason-perhaps shipwreck-he
landed in the extreme South of Italy near Taranto and eventually died there. It
would be difficult to exaggerate the popularity and importance of Cathaldus in
Italy and beyond. After St. Columbanus he is probably the best known Irish Saint
in Europe. He is the Patron Saint of the Diocese and the city of Taranto, his
feast on the tenth of May is celebrated in Genoa, Cremona, Mantua, Bologna,
Rimini, Verona, Messina in Siicily and the island of Malta.
I said that the people of 1840 had reason to be proud. They did not have to go back to stone age to find a basis for their pride. As they stood here in 1840 they had only to recall the famous Stuart election fourteen years earlier in 1826 when a Protestant native of this Parish. Henry Villiers Stuart of Dromana. Rocked the Irish nation and the British Parliament by being elected to Parliament in the cause of Catholic Emancipation. One of Stuart’s most staunch supporters was Parish Priest of the Parish.Fr.
John O’Meara. The people of Ballinameela stood four square behind Villiers
Stuart in that election and took on the Establishment. It was one of the most
heroic stands in the 19 century Ireland and had similarities with Gdansk and
Solidarity in Poland in the 1980’S. In all of Ireland if one had to erect a
shrine to the birthplace of Catholic Emancipation it would have to be here in
the Parish between the Brickey and the Blackwater. The courage and faith of 1826
was the same courage and faith which fourteen years later built this church. But
the folk and faith of Ballinameela and
Whitechurch went back a long way before 1826. |