President is special guest as Navan church marks 170th birthday

Fr Eugene O'Reilly, who was responsible for the construction of St Mary's Church, Navan, in the mid-19th century, held a meeting in 1834 to discuss building a new church in the town. "Why do people go to a theatre?" he asked. "Because they can see and hear everything that passes on the stage. I'll build a church to hold 3,000, where everyone can see and hear the priest." The architect of the day took as his model the Cercle Metropolitan Opera House in Paris, and fundraising began when farmer Thomas Maher of Clowanstown, Skryne, donated £50 to the cause. By the time of its opening in 1839, some £4,000 had been spent on the building and a further £2,000 would be needed to complete the interior decorations. Fr O'Reilly would have been proud of the performance that was staged in St Mary's on Sunday morning, when President Mary McAleese and her husband, Dr Martin McAleese, attended Mass to commemorate the 170th anniversary of its building. The Bishop of Meath, Dr Michael Smith, who is the parish priest of Navan, was joined by the parish clergy on Fr O'Reilly's 'stage' to mark the occasion. On the gallery, the parish choir, directed by Jane Lynch with organist Anna Mary Foley, provided the sacred musical backdrop in song while on the altar were four members of Ceoltóirí Carolan on harp: Fiona Gryson, Emma Brady, Caoimhe Harte and Rachel McGuinness. Joining Bishop Smith were Frs Gerry McCormack, Brendan Ludlow, Dwayne Gavin, and deacon Rev Stephen Kelly, as well as Fr Janusz Lugowski, chaplain to the local Polish community. Welcoming the President, Mary McGrath of the Navan Parish Pastoral Council said that, earlier this year, Bishop Smith celebrated the silver jubilee of his episcopal ordination. "Though President McAleese was unable to attend the ceremonies in Mullingar, we are grateful for her presence here today as the parish of Navan acknowledges the silver jubilee of Bishop Smith," she said. "Some 170 years on and we enjoy a diversity of cultures in Navan. Representatives of some of the nations who now live in our parish community will read the prayers of the faithful," Ms McGrath said. "Two families, the Iyasami family and the Falehy family, will bring the gifts of bread and wine in the offertory procession." President McAleese delivered the first reading, from Isaiah, and the second reading from the letter of St James was read by Andrew Gavin, and a special procession accompanied by candles and incense-bearing altar servers accompanied the bible to the lectern for the Gospel. In his homily, Bishop Smith asked: "Would we have the courage and faith in these days to build this church? The 1830s - the years before the famine - were very difficult years in Ireland with major emigration already taking place. Fr O'Reilly not only received great support from the parishioners for the project, he also received very valuable and generous support from members of the Church of Ireland community in the town. He was a cultural man with a deep love of music and it was this love of music, especially opera, which gave him the idea for the design of this Church. He wished to create a space that allowed all present to have a clear view of the altar - not for him obstructing gothic pillars - with no-one too far from the same altar. The old tradition that he took the design from an opera house in Paris is correct." Bishop Smith said the church was opened on 20th October 1839 with great fanfare, "if the lyrical accounts in the press at the time are to be believed". He went on: "Obviously, over the past 170 years, many improvements and additions have been made but it still reflects the vision of Fr O'Reilly and all who supported him in completing a church that, for a time, served as the cathedral for the diocese. One can only stand and wonder at their courage and faith." After the ceremony, Peter Tiernan of the parish pastoral council presented the specially produced DVD and booklet produced to mark the 170th anniversary of the church to Mrs McAleese, and Parish Sister Peter Daly gave the President a Patsy Reel painting of the church, while altar servers Cliodhna, Derbhla, Niamh and Louise Moore presented her with a floral bouquet. Fr Gerry McCormack, Adm, thanked Eithne Caldwell and Ray Mooney for editing the history book, and Kevin McNamee, Maura O'Donoghue and Stephen Maher for their work on the DVD. He also acknowledged the financial support of the Knights of Columbanus, St Mary's Credit Union and a number of parishioners. Afterwards, the President and her husband joined parishioners in St Mary's Community Centre before departing for the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final at Croke Park.