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All change at the Abbey as parish ceases to exist
The first Franciscan Parish in Ireland is to cease existence with the announcement that St Francis’ Parish in Galway City is to be subsumed into the Cathedral Parish.
A letter from the Bishop of Galway Brendan Kelly was read out at all masses on Sunday, informing Mass-goers of the decision, ahead of the parish’s official closure on March 1.
“The Franciscan Fathers have faithfully served their commitment to the Parish of St Francis over the past 38 years. Now, a time has come when – because of lack of personnel – they are unable to give this parish the attention it requires,” said Bishop Kelly.
“Consequently, their Provincial Fr Aidan McGrath OFM advised me that they can no longer continue to take responsibility for the administration for the parish.”
However, it was made clear that the Franciscan Fathers are not leaving Galway and will continue to provide Masses and devotions at the Abbey.
All parish administration will be transferred to the Cathedral meaning that baptisms, first communions, confirmations, marriages and funerals will take place there.
The Parish Registers of St Francis will also move across the Corrib, while all certificates normally issued by the St Francis’ will now be issued from the Cathedral.
Bishop Kelly explained how St Francis’ was established almost 40 years ago to serve the needs of a growing city – at a time when there were only four parishes in Galway City.
“A notable increase in the population of the city around that time prompted Bishop Michael Browne, with the agreement of the Parish Priests and religious superiors, to commit some of the parishes to the care of the Religious Orders and constitute those churches as parish churches.
“The Jesuit, Augustinian, Dominican and Franciscan Parishes were thereby formed on February 14, 1971, and the Abbey became the first Franciscan Parish in Ireland,” said Bishop Kelly.
An open meeting was held for St Francis’ parishioners on January 8 and it was the unanimous decision of those in attendance that this was the correct action to take.
Bishop Kelly asked for their understanding and co-operation as these changes took place.
“I want to thank the people of the Parish of St Francis for your loyalty and support, and to all who will be affected by the changes I ask for your understanding and co-operation.
“This is an opportunity to enrich the two parishes which will be affected by the union. May the new united parish be an added strength within the diocese and in our preparation for the future,” concluded Bishop Kelly’s letter.
St Francis’ Parish had taken in most of Woodquay and Eglinton Street, stretching down as far as the Salmon Weir Bridge – with a population of less than 500 parishioners.
A spokesperson for the Diocese of Galway told the Galway City Tribune that the lack of residential housing in the area covered by the parish meant “it didn’t make sense” to have a separate parish.
“If you look at the Cathedral, it can seat 2,500 people. That means if you had four masses there on a Sunday, that would be 10,000 people,” he added.
The spokesperson said this particular closure was not an indication of the lack of vocations, but rather that there was a surplus of churches.
“There is definitely a decline in vocations. We don’t have enough priests to serve the number of churches but we probably have enough priests to serve the needs of people,” he said adding that there was a proliferation of “legacy” churches rather than a shortage of priests.
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
