The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
The parish of Ruan is celebrating the retrieval of their hallowed ‘symbol of the parish’. The Nihil Chalice had been missing for over 12 months before it was recovered a fortnight ago.
The parish of Ruan is celebrating the retrieval of their hallowed ‘symbol of the parish’. The Nihil Chalice had been missing for over 12 months before it was recovered a fortnight ago.
St Tola’s Church in the Ruan parish has been its home for close to a century, while also having had stints in the local library and museum.
At only eight inches in height, the silver chalice is decorated with motifs of wheat and vine leaves halfway down the stem. On the second engraved panel, there is symbol of a cockerel perched on top, a traditional Christian symbol of resurrection.
The origins of the chalice are unknown, with very little information to go on. The cup carries the inscription “Lawrence and Alice Nihil, donors, January 1st, 1713”.
“Nobody knows anything about the origins of the chalice,” Fr Pat O’Neill, the parish priest of Ruan said.
He continued, “I have no idea who they were. How it came to be in Ruan, and who the Nihils were, I don’t know. You’re talking about 1713 – you’re going back a long, long way.”
He spoke of his relief at recovering the ornament, as it was his “duty of care to look after it”.
“It’s certainly been a part of the parish for a long, long time,” he said.
“What happened was, it was given on loan to the museum, by the priest before me. When I went to the museum to recover it, it wasn’t there. It was a mighty relief when we recovered the chalice. It was there before me, and it’s part of the parish.”
Fr O’Neill was keen to stress that nobody should feel implicated by the disappearance of the chalice, as it was “simply mislaid”.
“The parish priest before me, Father Burke, retired in Carrigoran,” he explained.
“The chalice was then brought to him by the museum, before he passed on. Unfortunately, it was then mislaid during the moving of his items.”
He described how he searched tirelessly for the cup for a year, before an appeal for it appeared in the Ruan notes section in the Clare Champion.
While Fr Burke was keen not to divulge exactly how or where it was found as to avoid any finger pointing, he stated that it was satisfying to have the chalice back where it belongs.
