Tag Archives: catholic church

Catholic parish records now available online

Catholic parish records held by the National Library of Ireland are finally available online. The Irish Times said:

These parish register records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history prior to the 1901 census. Dating from the 1740s to the 1880s, they cover 1,086 parishes throughout the island of Ireland, and consist primarily of baptismal and marriage records.

Here’s more background on the project from NLI. Or, start searching.

In a helpful blog post, Kay Caball at My Kerry Ancestors warns that because the records are not indexed researchers should have some idea of the parish, date and even month they are looking for. “You can’t just pop someone’s name in and hope that all will be revealed.”

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Post-referendum reflections on Irish Catholicism

There’s a lot of analysis about Ireland’s successful same-sex marriage referendum and the legacy of the Catholic Church: Here’s a sampling, starting with perhaps the most widely quoted post-election remark.

“The Church needs a reality check right across the board, to look at the things we are doing well and look at the areas where we need to say, have we drifted away completely from young people?” — Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin told RTE.

“The Joyful Death of Catholic Ireland,” by James Matthew Wilson in Crisis Magazine, The Voice for the Faithful Catholic Laity.

The reason the Irish—as Irish—are celebrating is that they have with this referendum delivered a decisive and final blow to their venerable image as a Catholic nation. They have taken their vengeance on the Church. They must relish the unshackling; they must love the taste of blood. But, finally, they take joy in becoming what, it seems, they were always meant to become. An unexceptional country floating somewhere in the waters off a continent that has long since entered into cultural decline, demographic winter, and the petty and perpetual discontents that come free of charge to every people that lives for nothing much in particular.

“Gay vote shows it’s not your grandfather’s Ireland any more,” By Niall O’Down in Irish Central.

Much of the mainstream media in the US missed … the death of monochrome, one holy and Catholic Ireland that passed away at least a decade or so ago and the new multi-ethnic ethos that prevails.

“Ireland has said ‘yes’ to gay marriage and ‘no’ to Catholicism,” by The Telegraph.

The Irish referendum on gay marriage was about more than just gay marriage. It was a politically trendy, media backed, well financed howl of rage against Catholicism.

“Gay Marriage in Ireland Isn’t a ‘No’ to Catholicism,” by Time.

Ireland’s historic decision to pass gay marriage by popular vote Saturday has led many to question the strength of the Catholic Church in the land of St. Patrick. For example, The Telegraph’s Tim Stanley wrote that Ireland’s “yes” to gay marriage was a “no” to Catholicism. But such simplistic reductions miss the complex and evolving Catholic worldview on civil gay marriage. … In fact, many who voted “yes” on gay marriage did so because of their faith, not in spite of it.

“Same-sex marriage vote an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Church,” opinion column in The Irish Times that quotes several members of the liberal, pro-“Yes” Association of Catholic Priests.

“Catholic Church Ponders Future After Same-Sex Marriage Vote in Ireland,” by The New York Times.

Ireland’s Catholic Church records to go online summer 2015

Great news for genealogists and historians who can’t get to Ireland: the National Library of Ireland is digitizing all Catholic Church records in Ireland. They will be available by summer 2015, for free.

“The records are considered the single most important source of information on Irish family history prior to the 1901 Census.  Dating from the 1740s to the 1880s, they cover 1,091 parishes throughout Ireland, and consist primarily of baptismal and marriage records,” NLI said in a statement.

The National Diaspora Programme, Ireland Reaching Out (Ireland XO), has welcomed making the resources available online without charge, IrishCentral reported. Another article in Crux was brought to my attention by the lovely Angie Drobnic Holan.

Honoring senior religious in Ireland and the U.S.

I admit a bias here. Two of my aunts took vows to the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill, Pa. Their Irish immigrant parents encouraged them to enter the religious life. Both became teachers. They also contributed to other church-related ministry. One is dead now; the other retired, though she still tries to help around the convent.

In an opinion piece for The Irish Times, Fr. Tony Byrne suggests the positive contributions to society made by senior religious have been overshadowed by the scandalous atrocities of the minority of religious. He continues:

The witness of their commitment to a life of prayer and service is seldom recognized or appreciated in contemporary Irish society. Yet it is important to remember senior religious who have given and those who continue to give tremendous service to the poor and needy.

In other words, there’s more to the story of the Irish religious than the notorious Magdalene laundries and pedophile priests.

Here’s more about helping elderly nuns and priests in the U.S. from the Washington, D.C.-based Support our Aging Religious.

Image from homethoughtsfromabroad626 blog.

Irish nuns gathering turf. Image from homethoughtsfromabroad626 blog.

Ireland’s warehouses become houses of worship

Fast-growing religious minorities in Ireland are using warehouses and other industrial buildings as worship space, according to a pair of stories by Colette Colfer in The Irish Times. The first story says,

Warehouses are used by migrant Pentecostal and Muslim groups as well as sometimes by Orthodox Christians and other religious denominations. Renting them is affordable, particularly during the economic downturn, and objections by the public on the basis of planning or parking are rare.

In a bit a contradiction, however, the second story says government officials soon might begin restricting such activity in Fingal, north of Dublin city center, which “has one of the highest population growth rates in the country and recorded the largest increase of non-Irish nationals in the 2011 census.”

The ruins of Doon Church near Ballybunion, County Kerry. My grandfather was baptized here in 1894. At my last visit in 2012 the building was being used to store turf and farm equipment.

The ruins of Doon Church near Ballybunion, County Kerry, where my grandfather was baptized in 1894. At my last visit in 2012 the building was being used to store turf and farm equipment.

While the number of Roman Catholics in Ireland reached a record 3.86 million, the proportion of population practicing the faith dropped to a 130-year low of 84.2 percent, down from the 1961 high of 94.9 percent. As noted in this press release for the 2011 census:

The twenty years between 1991 and 2011 has seen significant increases in the non-Catholic population driven by not only growing numbers with no religion but also large increases in the religions of immigrants from Eastern Europe, Africa and Asia.

The use of warehouses or vacant retail space for religious practice is fairly common in the United States. In reporting about commercial real estate for the Tampa Bay Business Journal, I’ve met several landlords who were happy to get rental income from religious groups, even if they had to offer the space at below market rates.

Eventually, as once established congregations move on or die off, their church buildings come on the market like any other piece of real estate. Here’s a list of 13 church properties for sale in Tampa. The churches are either bought by new congregations, or the buildings are renovated for new uses such as art galleries, restaurants…even a turf shed.

Pope John Paul II to be canonized 34 years after Ireland trip

News from the Vatican that Pope Francis has agreed to canonize Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII before the end of the year has prompted The Irish Times to republish several photos of JPII’s September 1979 visit to Ireland, including the image below at Clonmacnoise. CatholicIreland.net also posts a collection of quotations from JPII during the trip. This one covers the broad span of the Catholic church’s experience in Ireland:

I am thinking of how many times, across how many centuries, the Eucharist has been celebrated. How many and varied the places where the Masses have been offered, in stately mediaeval and in splendid modern cathedrals, in early monastic and in Modern Churches; at Mass rock in the glens and forests by hunted priests, in poor thatched-covered chapels, for a people poor in worldly goods but rich in the things of the Spirit., in “wake houses” or “station houses” or at great open-air hostings of the faithful – on top of Croagh Patrick and at Lough Derg.

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What would Saint John Paul II have to say about the church’s problems in Ireland today, from child sexual abuse to declining Mass attendance? At least he might take some comfort in knowing that many Polish immigrants in Ireland are keeping the faith.

Authors interview: The Secret Gospel of Ireland

About a year ago brothers James Behan and Leo Behan published The Secret Gospel of Ireland: The Untold Story of How Science and Democracy Descended From a Remarkable Form of Christianity That Developed in Ancient Ireland.

In the process of converting from paganism to Christianity, the ancient Irish developed a remarkable approach to the Christian faith that would one day make science, democracy, and our modern world possible. …With their powerful brand of “Irish Christianity,” the monks of Ireland transformed Europe and produced the key to unlocking the awesome potential of the Christian faith.

The Behan brothers provided my Irish-American blog with two complimentary copies of the book, which is available at Amazon.com and other outlets. I found the book well-conceived and enjoyable to read. I shared both copies with two priest friends of mine who vouched for the theological presentation.

My short email interview with the Behan Brothers follows below the book image.

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MH: What was the most challenging part of the research and/or writing?

BB: Definitely deciding what to leave out. In writing a narrative history that spans more than a thousand years, we were confronted with a mountain of information, most of which wasn’t relevant to the story. Moreover, we realized that most events don’t lead to significant change. So we were looking for the ideas that moved civilization along toward our modern world, which required a great deal of discernment. In fact, when we started, we weren’t sure how Ireland fit into the story or where it would end. We truly followed a trail of ideas that generation after generation built upon and changed. What we ended up with was a narrative history that tells the story of how science and democracy developed out of Christianity and Ireland’s pivotal role in that process.

Continue reading →

Willie’s emigration centennial: Day 9 of 12

HUSBAND…

William Diggin met Nora Ware in Pittsburgh sometime during Ireland’s struggle for independence and civil war. She had grown up on a Kerry farm near Ballylongford, just a few miles from where Willie was raised in Lahardane. The blue-eyed girl emigrated in September 1912, at age 21.

By coincidence, Nora crossed on the Baltic eight months before Willie boarded the same ship.

Like many young, unmarried Irish woman of the period, Nora worked as a household maid, or domestic. The 1920 census shows her living with the family of William Davidson, the Pittsburgh schools’ superintendent, in the city’s Homewood district.

The census also shows Nora’s older brother, John, a streetcar man, and their younger sister, Bridget, all lived within a few blocks of each other, as did Willie’s sister, Annie. The other two women also worked as domestics, and all four of these Catholic immigrants attended the nearby Holy Rosary Church, then the city’s largest parish. 

There is no indication Willie and Nora had known each other in Ireland, but the fact both were from north Kerry must have warmed their courtship. Their introduction likely came through one of their siblings or at one of the Irish social events of the day, such as the annual summer picnic at Kennywood Park sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Willie and Nora each had been in Pittsburgh a little more than 10 years by the time they were married on March 4, 1924. He was 30. She was 33.

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Nora and Willie, seated. Standing, left to right, John Ware, Mary Diggin, Michael Diggin, Bridget Ware and Annie Diggin.

By church custom the nuptial Mass would have occurred that Tuesday morning. Any luncheon reception afterward was likely a small, humble gathering. By now Willie’s brother Mike and sister Mary had immigrated to Pittsburgh. If these Kerry immigrants toasted the occasion, they did so discretely, Prohibition being the law of the land since 1920. Another law at the time prevented Nora from automatically obtaining American citizenship through her marriage to Willie.

There was reason for optimism as the couple began their married life. Polk’s 1924 city directory described Pittsburgh as “in the dawn of a new era” and “laying the foundations for a grander future than it has visualized in the past.” The annual publication said millions of dollars were being spent on new roads, bridges and schools. “All these things mean a greater Pittsburgh, a better and more desirable place to live than it ever has been in the past,” the directory said.

The newlyweds settled into an apartment close to where Willie could walk to the streetcar barn. Nora was soon pregnant. The couple began looking for a house to buy.

Tomorrow: HOUSE AND FAMILY

Willie’s emigration centennial: Day 5 of 12

HIS CATHOLIC FAITH…

Willie Diggin was baptized into the Roman Catholic faith on January 14, 1894. The date is “assumed” as the first Sunday following his birth two days earlier. His parents either walked or rode a small donkey-pulled cart about a mile from their house in Lahardane to the Doon Church at the edge of the Ballybunion sea cliffs.

The church dates to 1830, one of the first built in Ireland after Catholic Emancipation, the easing of English restrictions on priests and the faithful. Kerry had among the highest rates of Catholic adherence in Ireland.

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Doon Church, circa 1930-1950. National Library of Ireland Below, author’s 2009 photo of the church being used as a turf shed.

As Willie grew up he likely joined his family in visiting the holy well at Lahesheragh, a 10-minute walk from their house. Such activity pre-dated Christianity in Ireland, when the wells were thought to bring fertility, inspiration or luck. These customs were later incorporated into Catholic devotions.

The well at Lahesheragh was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Visitors prayed the rosary aloud as they walked around the spring in a 25-foot diameter circle bound by thick fuchsia hedges. In Irish, they softly intoned: “Sé do bheatha, a Mhuire, atá lán de ghrásta, Tá an Tiarna leat…”

In the 1901 publication “The Rosary Guide for Priests and People,” Father John Proctor wrote:

To speak of the rosary in Ireland, or the greater Ireland beyond the seas…is to reveal one of the secrets of Ireland’s undying faith in Jesus Christ, and her unfaltering love for, and loyalty to, the Church he founded. … In prosperity and in adversity, in the evening of sadness and in the morning of gladness, in their joys and in their sorrows, the beads were ever their talisman, the rosary their anchor of hope which kept them united to Jesus the Incarnate Son and Mary the Spotless Mother. Through…the rosary the faith became as deeply rooted in the mind and heart of Ireland as are the rocks embedded in her western shores.

Each summer, Ballybunion also celebrated Pattern Days near the 15th of August, the Catholic feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven. This included a special Mass at the new St. John’s Church, which opened in August 1897 near the center of the village.

As the day neared for Willie to make his way Queenstown, he likely visited Doon Church or St. John’s to seek a blessing from the priest. Family lore tells of his mother pressing a strand of rosary beads into his hands before the trip, a sign of devotion to his Catholic faith and a reminder of his Kerry home.

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Tomorrow: EMIGRANTS BEFORE HIM

Fianna Fail to debate “church gate” collections

There’s been a lot of reporting about Ireland becoming a more secular country in general and Catholics “fleeing the church“ in particular.

But if fewer people are attending Mass and other religious services, Fianna Fail apparently hasn’t got the message. The republican party founded by Eamon De Valera and other opponents of the 1921 Free State Treaty continues to collect money outside of churches.

The Irish Independent reports:

The lucrative money-spinner outside mostly Catholic chapels across the country netted close to a quarter of a million euro for the party coffers last year alone. The cash has made a huge contribution towards halving Fianna Fail’s bank debts since being ejected from government [in 2011].

Now some party members want to stop so-called church gate collections.

“It’s about time political parties gave up church collections,” the Independent quoted Galway County Councillor Malachy Noone. “It is not the place to do it. It is not in the best of taste.”

Supporters of the practice said it doesn’t align the party solely with the Catholic church. “We are not fussy what church we collect outside, we will collect outside any church,” another party official told the newspaper.

Party leaders are set to debate the issue at a weekend conference in Dublin, just as they also prepare to begin their annual three-month church gate collection across the country.

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1998 FF ”church gate” ad from Irish Election Literature blog