Tag Archives: Bishop Fintan Monahan

THE national launch of Catholic Schools Week will take place in St Flannan’s College, Ennis on Wednesday at 10.30am. Bishop Fintan Monahan, Bishop of Killaloe, and local school principals will be in attendance along with student representatives and representatives from the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Catholic Schools Week is an All-Ireland annual event, which invites Catholic schools to give expression in a special way to the ethos of Catholic education. Catholic Schools Week runs from January 28 to February 4. This year’s theme for Catholic Schools Week connects with the upcoming World Meeting of Families due to take place in Dublin in August. The week invites Catholic schools to reflect on and celebrate the relationship that exists between home, school and parish with the theme; “Catholic Schools: Called to be a Family of Families” On Sunday, February 4, Bishop Monahan will be the chief celebrant at mass for the conclusion of Catholic Schools Week 2018.  This mass will be broadcast …

The festive season of Christmas is a time to look back at the events and happenings of the year just gone by and reflect on what has been. We look back, savour and enjoy the good times while acknowledging the difficult times as well. A Time to look out for others Christmas is a time that we become aware of those less well-off, less fortunate than ourselves. It is a time when we do our best to reach out to others with care, with concern, with Christian love. We remember those less fortunate than ourselves. Unfortunately, homelessness has reached almost epidemic proportions in our country and county and we continue to do what we can in order to alleviate that situation and fight poverty in any way. Solidarity with people who have endured loss Thoughts and prayers go also to the many people who have lost their lives as a result of tragedies on our roads, on our waterways, those …

Bishop Fintan Monahan has urged all road users to take extra care this October bank holiday weekend. After 12 noon mass on Sunday, he will lead a ‘Blessing of the Roads’ ceremony in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Ennis and offer prayers for the safety of all road users. Bishop Monahan has invited parishes in the Diocese of Killaloe to join with him in prayers over the weekend. Bishop Monahan said, “Statistics indicate that bank holiday weekends can be high risk times on our roads. I am aware that many county councils and civic groups and especially the Road Safety Authority, work very hard to promote safety on the roads. But the reality is that we all share this responsibility to protect human life on our roads. “Up to this morning (Friday) 125 people have died this year on roads across the State. While the trend is down from the 160 deaths this time last year, it …

MEMBERS of a youth choir will set the seed for hope in churches this weekend, to create public awareness of children who are experiencing a difficult time. The young people of Londubh Youth Choir and Celtic Ensemble have chosen lavender, a healing and native plant, to place in churches in Clarecastle, Ballyea, Ennis, Quin, Roslevan and Shannon. They will also present symbols of hope, love, courage, friendship and knowledge, which were made recently for the Youth Helps Youth project at these churches this weekend. They will team the symbols with encouraging quotes put together by the youth, such as ‘A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself’, ‘Don’t lose hope, you’ll never know what tomorrow will bring’ and ‘Once you choose hope, anything is possible’. These will be placed around the lavender plant, along with a healing prayer during the launch. The lavender plant is a symbol of growth, nature and the healing that will take …

An “historic day” for Ennis’ Scoil Chríost Rí took place on Tuesday, when Bishop Fintan Monahan performed the official sod turning ceremony to mark the beginning of construction of a new €5 million school building. It is hoped that the new school will be ready to move into early next year, with school principal Gearóid Roughan saying the new school will be a “world-class education facility”. Speaking to The Clare Champion during the ceremony, Mr Roughan said, “It’s an historic day to be turning the sod of a new state-of-the-art €5m school for the children, staff and parents of Scoil Chríost Rí. There are exciting times ahead for us and we hope to move into the new school in spring 2018. We are very proud of the school we have and all of the fantastic educational programmes we have here for children and parents. This new school will give us a platform for the further development of the great work …

BISHOP Fintan Monahan has defended his appointment of Fr Ignatius McCormack as principal of St Flannan’s College in an interview with The Clare Champion, following concerns raised and reported in The Irish Times. The Bishop of Killaloe said direct appointment is the way priest principals were appointed in the past, that it is “not without precedent” and that he had it “utterly checked” beforehand. He said direct appointment “is normal practice”. “That’s the way all past priest principals would have been appointed and there is a facility for doing that in diocesan colleges. There is a thing called the articles of management and under Article 20, the patron of the school is entitled to appoint a priest directly to be principal of the school, so that is allowable in diocesan colleges”. He outlined that lay principals would be advertised publicly and filled following an interview process. He added that St Flannan’s College is “very fortunate to have Fr Ignatius in …

BISHOP Fintan Monahan has defended his appointment of Fr Ignatius McCormack as principal of St Flannan’s College in an interview with The Clare Champion, following concerns raised and reported in The Irish Times. The Bishop of Killaloe said direct appointment is the way priest principals were appointed in the past, that it is “not without precedent” and that he had it “utterly checked” beforehand. He said direct appointment “is normal practice”. “That’s the way all past priest principals would have been appointed and there is a facility for doing that in diocesan colleges. There is a thing called the articles of management and under Article 20, the patron of the school is entitled to appoint a priest directly to be principal of the school, so that is allowable in diocesan colleges”. He outlined that lay principals would be advertised publicly and filled following an interview process. He added that St Flannan’s College is “very fortunate to have Fr Ignatius in …

SUNDAY last was a red letter day for the Kilmaley community, as Bishop Fintan Monahan performed the official opening of the local national school’s extension. Following mass, there was an opportunity for teachers, pupils and the wider community, along with past pupils returning for the event, to take in a special exhibition commemorating the history of the school through the generations. A presentation by pupils gave an understanding of school life today, a modern approach to learning in a modern environment. An arts display received a lot of positive comment. However, a photo display of school life past and present was the big attraction, with attendees pointing to themselves, other family members and friends. Outside, there was a tree planting ceremony representing all pupils pre 1966 and 1966-2016. A family fun day with athletics and novelties rounded off the activities.