Courtney McGrailParishioners of Ashbourne-Donaghmore Parish gathered with the Bishop of Meath, local priests, and the chaplain to Meath’s Polish community recently to celebrate the dedication of the first chapel of its kind in Ireland to St John Paul II.
The newly-dedicated chapel is located in the former Sanctuary of the original church built in 1886. The altar, depicting the breaking of bread by Jesus with his disciples on the road to Emmaus, originates from Castlebar, Co. Mayo. It was transported and reassembled on site and restored by Polish church restorers living in Ireland.
During the ceremony, relics of St John Paul II and St Oliver Plunkett were inserted in the altar, the former being granted to the parish by Msgr Slawomir Oder, who had been postulator of the late Pope’s canonisation cause, while the latter was placed in the altar due to the Plunkett family’s links with Ashburne; Dr Michael Plunkett a cousin of St Oliver and Meath’s Vicar General from 1691 to 1713, was buried in Ashburne’s Killegland Cemetery.
Ceremony
The ceremony reflected the diversity of ministries involved in parish life, and the many cultures and families who have made their home in Ashbourne-Donaghmore Parish. Meath’s Bishop Michael Smith, appointed by the then Pope John Paul II in 1983, spoke of his own personal encounters with the saint, his role in organising 1979’s papal visit to Ireland, his visit to Rome weeks before St John Paul died and the lasting legacy of St John Paul II as a great teacher and witness to faith. During the evening, Dr Smith unveiled and blessed statues of St John Paul and St Teresa of Calcutta.
Parish Priest Fr Derek Darby expressed his thanks to all the craftsmen and craftswomen who worked on the chapel, particularly the many local contractors employed in the project. He said, “Our Parish can be very proud of what it has accomplished in the new John Paul II Chapel. It is not only a place of great beauty, but a fitting place which will inspire us in our search for the Divine through the celebration of the sacraments and quiet prayer.”
Immediately after the ceremony, parishioners retired to the parish hall for refreshments.