Tag Archives: Fr Brendan Quinlivan

THERE was great joy and pride in the parish of Tulla on Sunday morning last as the community  welcomed home Bishop Ger Nash for his first official visit to his native parish since being appointed as Bishop of Ferns last year.  The Glandree native was ordained last September at St Aidan’s Cathedral in Enniscorthy, but Covid restrictions meant many friends and neighbours were unable to attend. The homecoming provided a welcome opportunity for catching up, good wishes and congratulations. Bishop Ger was the main celebrant at the Sunday morning mass in Saint Peter and Paul’s Church in Tulla. The celebration was attended by a a large cross section of the community, including former classmates from Drumcharley and Tulla National Schools as well as from Saint Joseph’s Secondary School, where the Bishop Ger received his early education. The Harty Cup, so recently won by his Alma Mater, had a special place in the sanctuary. Also present were a group of the …

THE Parish Priest of Tulla has repeated his call for a period of reflection and healing, as pandemic restrictions finally lift and a day of national commemoration is planned.  Fr Brendan Quinlivan, who is also Diocesan Communications Officer, welcomed plans for remembrance events on Sunday, March 20, and urged that all of the losses and sacrifices endured since early 2020 be acknowledged. Figures released by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) show that 150 people in Clare died with Covid-19 between March 3 2020 and January 18 of this year.  Last March, in the height of a Level 5 lockdown, Fr Quinlivan warned of an impending crisis of unsolved grief and loss, and urged the Government to address those issues as soon as the Covid emergency abated.  “It’s very important that we acknowledge in a formal way and a ritual way, the great sense of loss experienced in so many ways over the last two years,” he said. “First and …

A CLARE priest will be the voice of opera singer Andrea Bocelli to millions of people around the world this Christmas. However Fr Brendan Quinlivan, the parish priest of Tulla, won’t be striking a chord with his singing. Instead, Fr Quinlivan has done the voice-over for a new radio Christmas special in which the multi-award winning Bocelli sits down with Ennis journalist and presenter Colm Flynn. The programme, ‘Andrea Bocelli, Christmas Special’ will be broadcast on the ‘Heart & Soul show on the BBC World Service on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The show goes out to around 22 million listeners on the BBC radio network around the world and Colm had exclusive access to Bocelli for the interview in Florence, Italy. Fr Quinlivan’s involvement with the programme came by chance, as he happened to be in Italy just as Colm was trying to find the ideal English speaking voice to dub over Bocelli’s Italian. “The whole thing was fortuitous …

A SENIOR cleric has said that the nation’s mental and emotional wellbeing must receive the same level of investment and effort as the campaign to eradicate Covid-19. Parish Priest of Tulla, Fr Brendan Quinlivan, said that once the pandemic is under control, the government and public health officials must turn their attention to tackling the psychological fall-out being experienced by all generations. Fr Quinlivan, who is also the Killaloe diocesan communications officer, said that one of the biggest challenges will be dealing with unresolved grief for those who have been bereaved during the pandemic. “There are huge concerns about what the legacy of Covid-19 will be in terms of mental health and wellbeing,” he said. “We are increasingly hopeful about the roll-out of vaccines and the return to normal life, but we need to make sure that as much time, effort and investment is poured into addressing the impact of the lockdowns on so many people. Our children and young …

‘AN ANGEL’ and ‘an inspiration’ were among the words used to describe Labhaoise Fitzgerald, whose funeral ceremony took place in her native Tulla on Thursday, January 7. The teenager passed away after a six-year battle with cancer, borne, her mother Louise told mourners, “with a smile on her face, a positive attitude, and a brilliant sense of humour”. Diagnosed in 2014 with a medulloblastoma, Labhaoise bravely underwent brain surgery twice, more than 60 rounds of radiotherapy and gruelling chemotherapy. All the while, she kept up her deep connection to her family: her mum and dad, Louise and Patrick, her brother Pádraig; her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins, and her many friends at St Joseph’s Secondary School. Labhaoise worked tirelessly to raise funds for Barretstown House where she had attended summer camps over the years and met other children like herself who were determined not to let illness get in the way of their lives. Last April, Labhaoise told The Champion …

IT IS set to be a Christmas like no other. Level 3 restrictions have allowed religious ceremonies to resume and the popular Christmas tradition of attending mass will be a very different this year. Between the parishes of Ennis and Doora-Barefield alone, an unprecedented 33 masses will be celebrated over two days in seven churches. “We are of the firm belief that people want to come to Christmas mass and we will respond to that demand,” said Fr Tom Ryan, Co-PP of the Abbey Cluster. “We have to have social distancing and capacity restrictions, so our solution is to increase the number of masses. We’ll start on Christmas Eve at 4pm and finish with mass at midnight. On Christmas Day, we’ll have first mass at 7am and the last one at 6.30pm. We have the man power.” The two parishes, who alongside Clarecastle and Ballyea, and Quin, Clooney and Maghera make up the Abbey Cluster, are stopping short of issuing …

BALANCING physical health with the viability of the economy may be the challenge facing the government at the moment, but a call has been made by an East Clare priest for the emotional and spiritual health of the nation to be factored in too. Parish Priest of Tulla, and Communications Officer for the Diocese, Fr Brendan Quinlivan, said he is hopeful that, even under the current level 3 restrictions, consideration may be given to allowing masses to resume. Since the guidelines ramped up a gear last week, religious ceremonies have moved online and the four Catholic archbishops have sought a meeting with the Taoiseach over what are seen as inconsistencies in the level 3 guidelines. “The guidelines would seem to suggest that while it’s fine for 15 people to go training or to a gym, 15 people wearing masks and social distancing can’t attend a mass,” Fr Quinlivan said. “There is a concern that religious observance is being treated as …

THE Parish Priest of Tulla has made an appeal to people to be vigilant, after what he described as “heartless” thefts from a number of graves in the town. The incidents were reported to Gardaí last Friday after a visitor to the graveyard, which is on the Hill of Tulla, discovered that freshly-bought plants had been stolen from a grave. It is understood that a number of other graves were tampered with and that rose bushes were among the items stolen from two of them. The incidents have caused considerable distress locally and Gardaí are appealing for information. “People are so upset,” said Fr Brendan Quinlivan. “First and foremost, it’s very distressing that this should have happened in a place that is so scared to so many people. Something like this has a profound effect on everyone, but particularly on those who are grieving the loss of a loved one and are already carrying that very heavy burden. To do …