The Funeral Directors in the Parish are:
Tommy Shivnan ( Ballyfarnon, Boyle ). Funeral Directors and Funeral Home Proprietor. Phone: 078 47031.
Sean Rynn ( Greaghnaleva, Arigna ). Phone: 078 46092.

c) Parish Stations take place throughout the Parish during the year.
These are traditional celebrations when The Holy Mass is celebrated in some house in a given townland or cluster of townlands on an arranged day. At this mass the family home becomes an open house. Every family in a station area is encouraged to be represented by at least one family member. Invitations are not encouraged. The Station Mass is really a "Neighbourhood Mass"
The Station is a community celebration where Christ is seen as coming to visit the host family of the year in question and all the homes of that area. It should be a very joyful occasion where Christ, the special visitor, is made very welcome by the family concerned and all their neighbours.
Acceptance of the station is voluntary. In the past it was often regarded as obligatory where every house was expected to accept the station when their turn came around .
But how can you "welcome" Christ if you are "obliged" to do so?
In this parish we do not necessarily adhere to the "turn" system.
Every home in every station area is free to volunteer to "take" the station in any given year , especially if that home never had a station previously.
It would be a great pity if the "Station" tradition were ever to die because these stations are very special occasions in rural Ireland. Perhaps the idea should be promoted in the bigger towns and cities where next -door-neighbours sometimes do not know each other.

2. Parish Records

The Parish records date back to 1824. These are records of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages and Deaths. The Baptism records are, by far, the most complete. Some of the others have major enough omissions. How well the records were kept depended on who was Parish Priest at the time. Also some of the handwriting can be quite indistinct.
The records of the first fifty years or so were just kept in notebooks and the clarity and organisation of some of the entries left a bit to be desired. But a good magnifying glass and plenty of patience can usually interpret the puzzle.

a) Baptismal Records
A very good F.A.S. scheme about ten years ago took our Baptism Records and succeeded in computerising them. It was a monumental task. We got back a full computer print-out of the Baptism Records from 1824 to 1900. These computerised records are arranged in alphabetical order and members of the same family are grouped together . Names can be found much faster as a result. Considering the fact that latinized name forms were used and the handwriting often anything but clear the entries are remarkably accurate.
If , as occasionally happens, there is a doubt about accuracy of the name or place of birth the old hand-written records are searched .
The Parish Baptismal Records are usually very accurate and very rarely has a priest in the past neglected to enter a Baptism. So these Church records from all the parish churches in Ireland are an extremely important source of information for our people who need such information for many reasons. This is particularly true for people who were born before 1922 when most of the State records were burnt during the Irish civil war
We get quite a large number of descendants of Irish people who emigrated down the years who are looking for their roots or perhaps want to get an Irish passport.
Quite a considerable number of these have told me that an American religious sect sells copies of our Irish Baptismal Birth Certificates for something like $100 a search. Seemingly they stole our records by using micro-film cameras or some such device and have turned their theft into a multi -million dollar enterprise.
Here in Kilronan Parish we do charge a small fee of £5 for certificates that are sought for non religious purposes such as tracing ancestors or trying to qualify for Irish passports. We do not put our records up on the internet because these are private records. This is why we take a very poor view of the American sect people who sell our private records, which were acquired illegally, over the internet.
E-mail me if you are seeking records tynansean@eircom.net

b) Death Records
These records cover from 1824 to the present. But unlike the Baptismal records they were not kept nearly so accurately. It seems that some priests in the past did not consider them to be very important.
As a result, we probably have less than half the names of all the people who died in the parish over the past couple of centuries. This is a pity because it can be very disappointing when a grandchild or great grandchild is looking for a death record and cannot have it because somebody thought that their old relative's death was not important enough to record .

c) Marriage Records
We do not have a full record of all marriages since 1824. But this was for a different reason than the omission of the death records.
Only marriages celebrated in the actual church building, it seems, were recorded. Up until 1917 when the Code of Church Law was promulgated there was no definite regulation that a Catholic had to be married in the church or even that a priest had to bless a marriage.
It is quite clear , at least in our parish records of marriages, that a marriage in the church was often celebrated for social reasons such as being able to show that they were able to afford such a marriage.
In our early marriage records it is not uncommon to find recorded alongside the marriage entry the fee paid for the ceremony.
Sometimes this might be as much as £5, which at the time might be more than a month's wages.
There are as many marriage entries every year in our present day records as there were in any year in the nineteenth century. There is a total population now of 950. Over a hundred years ago there were over 12,000 people in the parish.
There were plenty of marriages but they were not recorded.
It seems that a couple very often came to the priest and told him they were married and asked him to bless them. He would bless them and send them on their way. No record would normally be kept of such a marriage. It seems that the people who married formally in the church were those with considerable land and" Fixity of Tenure "on it.
These were often called "Forty Shilling Freeholders".

Some Americans when they come to look for their parents or grandparents "marriage lines" get something of a shock when they discover there is no record of the marriage of their very religious ancestors. Of course those who had to emigrate to America or some other country normally did not come from a
"Fixity of Tenure background. It can be difficult to explain this to some people, especially if they have "come up a bit in the world" since their relatives emigrated. Some react by saying something like
"You mean to tell me that my grandparents did the same as my grand - daughter has just done when she just moved in with that fellow last year?"

d) Confirmation Records
We do have a comprehensive record of Confirmation over the years. There are a couple of exceptions. There was one gap in the not too distant past during the tenure of one priest that has caused s slight problem when people came to get married. The school records and a retired teacher were able to witness to the fact of confirmation for these children. So the record was set reasonably straight.
Of course, the confirmation records would not be in nearly so much demand for extra church reasons as the other three sets of records.

3. Parish Community Helpers
In all three sections of the parish there is a strong community involvement in the life of the parish and its churches. This community involvement is evident in all ages from Primary School up to old age.
It is true that in late years there has been a fall off of people regularly practising their prayer life and attendance at mass and other church services. Nowadays we have the committed people . In the past we often had people coming to mass because of social pressures . Many of these could be seen each Sunday in church porches or standing outside smoking and talking to their friends. These do not come anymore. Regular religious practice in the parish varies from area to area.
In the Keadue and Ballyfarnon areas practice is about 65%. In the Arigna area it is down to around 50%.
Because of the fall-off in regular religious practice we do have what could be called "The hatched, matched and dispatched syndrome". That is to say , practically all children are baptised, almost all marriages are in the church and all are brought to the church for their funerals . But that doesn't mean they are all practising Catholics.
Some just come to be baptised, married and to be buried..
The involvement of the majority of the parishioners in the life of the church is much more evident than in the past. Like most parishes we do have to face a challenge in the practice of our Faith but this only helps tp bring out the best in people. This is seen very clearly in the number of people who look after the day to day parish and church needs. This is clear from the picture of parish community involvement outlined below in each of the three areas of the parish.
Operational costs can be something of a headache. Parish expenses in the year 2000 were a total for the entire parish of £32,000
( 40,631.62 Euros ). Income for the whole parish in the same year amounted to £38,000 ( 48,250.05 Euros ).
For the moment the parish is solvent but a surplus each year in the region of £6,000 ( 7,618.43 Euros ) would not build up sufficient funds to cover the costs of a major repair need which will arise in the case of the Parish Church in Keadue in the not too distant future.
A generous bequest from one deceased parishioner eases the problem somewhat but does not make it go away.
The income for the two priests of the parish derived from the six parish "dues" collections falls short of the diocesan minimum by over £4,000 ( 5,078.95 Euros ) each year.
Probably in the light of a total population in the parish of 950 people we should not complain too much about parish income. It is also very likely that there will only be one priest in the entire parish in the not very distant future. It is even possible that we may have to share a priest with a neighbouring parish.
The parish used to have three priests. But the population dropped in the past hundred years from 12,000 to our present 950. Our numbers are still falling but we are not thinking of dying yet.

a ) Arigna :
Arigna community involvement in the life of the Church differs from that of Keadue and Ballyfarnon. The number of parishioners is greater than that of Keadue and Ballyfarnon combined. Religious practice is well down , possibly below 50%, especially among the young people. There would be upward of fifty children attending the two Primary Schools. Yet it would be rare to see more than about ten at Sunday mass. Mass practice by Secondary School children would be somewhat stronger but still relatively low.
This means that probably many families with school-going children are not regular practicing Catholics. It is possible, though, that a number of families from the area may be going to mass in churches outside the parish. Those who are regular in their religion practice seem to often be even more committed to their faith that the other areas of the parish. So it is a place that is prone to very faithful practice or very little. There is not much evidence of a middle ground.
It is "Yes" or "No" and not "Maybe".

Altar society; There is a very active Altar Society made up of fifteen very competent ladies from the area. They keep the church clean and tidy throughout the year and are very alert to repair needs before they become acute and costly.
Their names are as follows:-
Rose McGuckian, Tess Flynn, Eithne MacGuire,
Mary Guihen ( Railroad) , Dettie MacNiff, Maureen Guihen (Crosshill),
Mary Lynch, Bernadette Duignan, Beatrice Rynn, Mary Flynn,
Maureen Guihen (Cornagee), Mary Guihen (Timpaun), Mary O'Donovan,
Patricia Macdermott, Margaret MacPadden.

Door Collectors; The collectors play a very important role in the life of the Church in every parish. The upkeep and administration of any parish is very high.There can often be hidden costs that people do not think of eg newsletter costs, collection -envelope costs, altar supplies, repairs , insurance, light and heat, diocesan levies, flowers, retired priest fund , refuse collection, wages etc. The operational costs for Arigna Church last year were about £12,000
( 15,236.86 Euros ) while income amounted to some £14,000
( 17,776.33 Euros ). We are still floating but not enough to build up a fund for a major building project if it were to occur in the future.
The Priest's "dues" income amounted to some £6,500 ( 8,253.00 Euros ) or about £2,500 ( 3,174.35 Euros ) short of the diocesan minimum.
The collectors are :- Dermot Dooley, Paddy Joe MacPadden, John MacManus, Michael MacPartland, Joseph Gilmartin, Andy Gilraine.

Eucharistic Ministers; Arigna was one of the first churches in the surrounding parishes to have Eucharistic minister. They have continued that tradition with a very excellent team of Eucharistic ministers one of whom helps distribute Holy Communion each Sunday and Holyday. These ministers are :- Kevin Wynne, Maureen Guihen, Mary Guihen, Tess Flynn, Bridie O'Brien.

Mass Servers; In the past acquiring altar servers in Arigna was quite a problem but not anymore. There is a big team of seventeen servers who have formed themselves into teams and have arranged a very rigid rota system.They are drawn from the two Primary Schools of the area - Strabraggan and Greaghnafarna. In the past there was often nobody to serve mass on Sundays or at funerals. Servers would , of course, turn up for weddings because there might be a little money payment. This is not the case with the present army. The team of the week is responsible for all serving duties throughout the week and that includes all funerals and weddings or other serving duties. There are always servers nowadays. Their names are as follows:-
Chloe McGuckian, Nathan Wynne, Gary Glynn, Sinead Regan, Claire Glynn, David Coyle, Michelle Layden, Orla Guihen, Barry Dolan, Elaine Wynne, Michael Gilraine, Roisin Guihen, David Gaffney, Josephine Cassidy, Gerard Duignan, Noel Duignan.


Prayer Group; There is a very well attended prayer group which meets in the church each Monday evening at 7.30. They meet for about one hour and pray before The Blessed Sacrament for the different intentions and needs of families, individuals, parish problems, the sick, etc. The prayer group is open to anyone who wishes to come along on any Monday evening. There is no formal membership. Anyone may ask to the group to pray for a particular intention at any meeting.
It is a very worthwhile group indeed.

Readers; There are ten very competent adult readers of Scripture in Arigna Church. They have formed a rota system which ensures a reader for every Sunday and Holyday throughout the year. This rota is kept very faithfully.
These readers are:
Margaret Hoffman, Maureen Guihen ( Cornagee), Maureen Guihen
( Crosshill),
Mary Gilroy, Eithna MacGuire, Mary Guihen, Dympna Daly, Kevin Wynn, Padraig Tymon.

Sacristan, Musical Director and Financial Manager; Sacristan, Musical Director and Financial Manager is Tess Flynn. Tess is the most hard worked voluntary worker in the Parish. She is extremely active in practically every aspect of Church Life in the Arigna area.
It would be difficult to visualize how the Church in Arigna would operate without Tess. All her work is on a totally voluntary basis.
It is possible that many people in the area do not fully appreciate how important is the role played by Tess Flynn in the life of Kilronan Parish in general and, of course, Arigna in particular.


b ) Ballyfarnon.:
Community involvement in Ballyfarnon Church is very strong.
The church is unique in that it was built in 1880 against the wishes of the Bishop .The people themselves had to find a priest to look after their needs for the first thirty years until the Bishop finally decided to yield to their requests and appointed a priest to Ballyfarnon .
So the church is a Community Church in a much more real way than the ordinary. Practically every family in the area is involved very strongly in the day to day life of their church.
New and fresh ideas for a better presentation of ceremonies are more likely to have their origin in Ballyfarnon than any of the other two areas.

Altar society; The Altar Society comprises of some twenty four members. They are very committed to "their church". Their names are as follows :-
Mary Burke, Mary Morrison, Mary Gunning, Aisling Lowe, Suzanne MacTiernan, Phil Gray, Teresa Shivnan, Tessie Emmett, Mary Emmett, Gertie O'Connor, Bridie MacCawley, Mary Keaveney, Annette and Caroline Lynam, Teresa Lavin, Mary Shivnan, An Healy, Pauline Flynn, Nuala MacNamara, Josephine Healy, Sheila MacDonagh, Kathleen Gaffney, Carmel Costello & Killoran Family.

Collectors; There are eight collectors who take up the offertory collections.
They have formed teams which operate on a monthly basis. They are very able and committed workers. Their names are as followers:-
Andy Lavin, Gerry Travers, Peter Kerrigan, P.J. Healy, Ronan Glynn, Michael Killoran, Vincent MacDonagh, Michael MacCawley.

Choir; The organist is Nuala Sheeran and the musical director is Teresa Shivnan. Ballyfarnon choir is the best choir at the moment in the parish . This is mainly because they have succeeded in recruiting a good number of youthful choir members. Also they are being helped out by very competent flute and guitar players. The real strength of this choir is the members commitment to rehearsals when almost everyone comes regularly.

Finance; Because the population of the Ballyfarnon area of the parish has shrunken quite drastically over the years it would not be possible for the community to support a priest of their own anymore. The Dues comes to about £3,000 ( 3,809.21 Euros ) per year. The total from the Ballyfarnon and Keadue priest,s "Dues" comes to about £8,000
( 10,157.90 Euros ) which goes towards the upkeep of the Parish Priest and is some £1,500 below the Diocesan minimum. The Offertory Collection comes to about £10,000
( 12,697.38 Euros ) per year . Running costs last year amounted to £8,500 ( 10,792.77 E ). There is just about enough to meet ordinary upkeep. A major expenditure need would cause considerable problems. But considering that the population of the area is only some 150 people they don't do badly with their contributions at all.

Financial Directors; Phil Gray, Harriet Killoran and Bridie Cawfield check and bank offertory and dues monies.
They are extremely competent. Martina MacNiff carries out the annual audit of all financial affairs in the parish.

Financial Recorders; families look after the recording and counting of all church income from collections. They do a very good job indeed. These families are :-
The Healy Family, The MacDonagh Family, The Shivnan Family, the Keaveney Family , the Costello Family, The MacCawley Family.

Grounds people; The Church grounds are looked after by a very active Ballyfarnon Community Group.

Mass Servers; Fifteen young people have formed themselves into three teams who serve mass on a weekly rota basis. Each team has a Captain who is answerable for the team.
A Head Server co-ordinates the captains.
Head Server is Sinead Flynn & the Captains are Enda Flynn, Edel Sheeran, Danielle Gaffney. The Footsoldiers are:
Jack Cohn, Barry Cooney, Sarah Callaghan, John Keaveney, Christine Healy,
Anthony Sheeran, Kevin Sheeran, Christopher MacNamara, Clive MacDonagh,
Stephen MacTiernan, Helena Sheeran.

Readers; Thirteen young people have formed themselves into five very good reading teams who read the scriptures in the church on a monthly basis.
These readers are as follows :-
Enda Flynn, Sinead Flynn, Christopher MacNamara, Edel Sheeran, Danielle Gaffney, Helena Sheeran, Kevin Sheeran, kevin Healy, Breffni Lavin, Christine Emmett,
Jane Keaveney, Allison Lavin, Noelle Macnamara.

Sacristans; There is no "official sacristan" but the necessary work is done by Phil Gray and Tommy and Teresa Shivnan who are extremely committed to the task.

c ) Keadue.:
Very few families in the Keadue are are not involved in some way with the life of the parish. Community Spirit is very much alive in the Keadue area which is reflected in the very high place the village wins in the National Tidy Towns competition each year.

Altar society; This a very efficient team of ladies who look after cleaning the entire church interior. They have organised themselves into teams . Each team takes its turn to look after the church in two-week rota system. The members are as follows:-
Rosaleen Mulvanerty, Mai Gallagher, Sheila gaffney, Liz MacCabe, Una O'Donnell, Kathleen Noone, Mai Baxter, Marlene Daly, Margaret Kelly, Molly Guihen, Moira Doyle, Lizzie Gralton, Phyllis Gray, Kathleen Mattimoe, Margaret MacNiff, Rosaleen Boyle, Ann Walsh, Valerie Barry, Phyllis Quinn, Frances Gaffney, Margaret Grimes, Mary Kelly, Sheila Fearon, Kathleen Martin, Carmel Benson, Mai Keaveney, Breege MacMorrow, Pewggy Camobell, Mai fearon, Mary MacCabe, Berna Gibbons,
Maura O ' Conor, Rita MacGreevy, Bridie Keaveney.

Choir; The Church Choir director and organist is Rosaleen Boyle.
She is a very competent and committed choir mistress. There is, though, a small problem . Many of the choir are getting on in years and enough younger people are somewhat slow to join and especially to commit themselves to regular rehearsals ,without which it is not possible to have a really excellent choir. There are about fifteen regular members and others who come on a more irregular basis.
For special occasions the Keadue Harpers and Flute Players augment the choir and give considerable variety and life to the occasion.
When the choir is not available Teresa MacCabe and her friends organise the necessary church music and hymns.

Collectors; The collection group of very loyal and trustworthy men and women from the local community. They have arranged to take their turn on a weekly rota system to "man" the church door at all Weekend Masses and Church Holydays.
Their names are as follows:-
Kathleen Mattimoe, Lizzie gralton, Oliver MacCabe, Sean keaveney, Margaret MacNiff, Margaret Kelly, Colm O'Donnell, Peter MacNiff, Tom Campbell, Ronan Fearon, Tom Quinn, Phyllis Quinn, Dr. Hugh Gibbons, Moira Doyle, Bernie Joe Mattimoe, Paul Kelly, Peggy Campbell, Tommy Daly, Brendan Kelly.

Finance; The Offertory Collection goes towards the upkeep of the church , administrating needs of the parish and repairs. It comes to about £14,500
( 18,411.20 E ) per year.
Our costs last year 2000 were £11,500 ( 14,601.98 Euros ). The church in Keadue will need major repairs in the near future.
A different funding source will be needed to meet this cost.
A local person who died left her valuable house to meet some of the cost of a new roof which will take some of the sting from the debt load. The Dues collection is a bi-monthly collection which goes towards the upkeep of the priests of the parish. It comes to about £5,000
( 6,348.69 Euros ) per year. It is not enough to meet these needs and must be subsidised each year from Diocesan funds.

Financial directors; Peggy Campbell and Martina MacNiff. Peggy organises the team of collectors throughout the year and looks after collection envelopes. Martina is a local young chartered Accountant who audits all Parish Accounts each year.

Grounds People; The Church Grounds are looked after by Keadue Development Association. This is the same organisation which cares for tke Keadue "Tidy Town" initiative in which they have been extremely successful. They won the All Ireland award in 1993 and Keadue is consistently among the first six tidiest towns in Ireland every year. The Church grounds always get a very high commendation in the marking awards The driving force behind the Association is Pauric Noone and the chief on-site operator is Peter MacNiff. Community backing is strong for this initiative and the church grounds benefit considerably as a result.

Mass Servers; Fifteen Primaty School children have formed themselves into three teams who take their turns on a weekly basis. Each team has a Captain who allocates serving "jobs" and looks after team discipline. A Head Server in consultation with the Captains looks after more serious problems or policy needs.
The Head Server is Aisling Grimes and the Captains are Andrea Leyden, Gillian Barry and Jennifer Benson. The soldiers are Hugh Kielty, Daniel O'Connor, Laura Foxe,
Aine Fearon Eoin O'Conor, James MacManus, Ciara O'Donnell, Erin O'Connor, Alan Banson , Oonagh Martin , Patrick MacManus.

Prayer Group; A very good prayer group meet and pray before The Blessed Sacrament each Tuesday night at 9.00. They meet for about one hour and normally pray for different needs of the parish and area eg . The sick, Family problems, Youth problems, Thankgiving for God's gifts etc. It is a much needed initiative.
Anyone who wishes may attend the prayer meeting any night. There is no formal membership. People who wish for prayers for a particular intention may ask the meeting to pray for that intention.

Readers; The teenagers and Primary School young people have formed rotas on a monthly basis arranging readers for all weekend masses.
The Primary School people look after Saturday evenings .
The Teenagers look after the Sunday masses.
Their names are as follows:-
Hughie Kielty, Jennifer Benson, Alan Benson, Aisling Grimes, Erin O'Connor, James MacManus, Gillian barry, Andrea Leyden, Patrick MacManus, Avril Cryan, Fidelma Curley, Cathy Martin, Clair Grimes, Ann-Marie Benson, Natasha Kielty, Padraig Fearon, Mairead Boyle, Maria Daly, Niamh Boyle, Teresa MacCabe, Fiona Conlon, Louise macManus, Karen MacCabe, John Benson, Michael Keaveney, Joseph Noone, Jonathan Baxter.

Sacristan; Lizzie Gralton. Lizzie is , in fact , much more than a sacristan.
She is Eucharistic Minister, Church Porter, Collector, Cleaner, Altar Server Trainer, Booker of Anniversaries and other church dates, member of Altar Society and generally trouble shooter for all kinds of crises and adviser to the P.P. Once when the priest had to be called away during mass the priest asked Lizzie to continue by reciting the Rosary, saying a few words and distribute Holy Communion. Afterwards some people were heard to remark that was the best mass they had ever attended in Keadue Church.

Previous

Home

Next

For Printer Friendly Version Click Here >