Ballintubber Abbey A €3 million development at an 800-year-old abbey in Co. Mayo will serve as a hub for exploring the role of pilgrimages in Ireland and Europe’s Christian identity, according to the local parish priest.
Fr Frank Fahey told The Irish Catholic that Mayo County Council’s support for building an interpretative centre at Ballintubber Abbey will help visitors learn about pilgrimage through human history and about the interaction of science and religion. Visitors, he said, would be helped to learn about the major Irish and European pilgrim routes.
Stressing how Masses will continue to take place at the medieval abbey, he said: “The Abbey refuses to die. Even through the worst times, even for 250 years when there was no roof on it, the Masses continued to be celebrated in the sanctuary, so it was always a place where the Mass was celebrated and it is fully restored now for all the ceremonies.”