Fr. Ryder, Ballyvaughan, thanks friends in Australia

[Sduddy]

The Clare Journal, Monday 25 April, 1859:

Australian Sympathy with Ballyvaughan, 1859.
The Committee of the Roman Catholic Church, in course of erection at Ballyvaughan, county of Clare, gratefully acknowledge the receipt of the undermentioned subscriptions from Australia. At their last meeting, Very Rev. P. J. Ryder, P.P., in the chair, it was proposed by Gregory Martyn, Esq., and seconded by Mr. Michael McNamara, and unanimously passed – “That the warmest thanks of the committee and people of Ballyvaughan be tendered to the good friends in Australia who have generously contributed towards the new chapel, especially to the collector, Mr. Patrick O’Connor; and that the expression of their thanks be conveyed to them through the medium of the Irish press.”
Truly those generous, though humble souls have entitled themselves to the praise and gratitude of the people of Glanaragah. An Irish newspaper, containing an account of the ceremony of blessing the foundation stone, and giving a brief description of the projected plan, accidentally fell into their hands. They admired the zeal and piety that prompted the friends at home to undertake building so splendid a house of worship, and instantly resolved to assist the good work. One man, a native of Ballyvaughan, assumed the office of collector, and in a short time, from the well-earned wages of some hard-working persons, was collected the handsome sum of £30. Other subscriptions are promised, and as soon as they reach shall be duly acknowledged.
Equally true is it that the people of Glanaragah deserve the support of Irish Catholics at home and abroad. They have subscribed themselves most liberally, some of them almost beyond their means, towards raising a structure that must speak eloquently to posterity, of their zeal and love for the beauty of God’s house. With what pleasure will some, perhaps, of those Australian friends, when they return to the land of their birth and affection, to rest their weary limbs after years of toil and fatigue, behold a handsome Gothic Church perched within their native hills; how fervently will they make acts of prayer and thanksgiving in it for their safe return ? With what gratification will they view its handsome cut stone buttresses, its stained-glass window, its pretty Lady Chapel, its stately tower, proudly shooting up towards the heavens; and how consoling to them the thought that they have contributed a portion of what they earned by the sweat of their brow towards raising a chapel so peculiarly adapted for the service of their Creator?
An appeal is made to all friends in Australia, whose eyes this acknowledgment may catch, to assist in this sacred business; to imitate the good example set them by some of their fellow-countrymen in the language of inspiration, “to go and do likewise.”
The following is a list of the subscribers names: -
Patrick O’Connor,
Michael O’Connor,
Thomas O’Connor,
James O’Connor,
Mary O’Connor,
Bridget O’Connor,
Anne O’Connor,
Joseph Cassidy,
Bridget Kerin,
Patrick Kerin,
Ellen Kerin,
Catherine Kierse,
Mary Kierse,
Catherine Kierse,
Michael Clancy,
Patrick Noonan,
Darby Conole,
John Riedy,
Peter Kinnane,
Martin Sullivan,
Mrs. Sullivan,
Elizabeth Sullivan,
Mary Doherty,
Margaret Lawlor,
Mary Higgins,
John O’Brady,
A Friend
A Friend
Mathew Tuohy
Andrew Byrne,
Bridget Clancy,
Margaret Nestor,

Dear Sir [Editor], I am anxious, personally, to thank those good friends who have so generously come to our assistance. I take it, partly, as a personal compliment to myself, as the greatest number of the subscribers were much attached to me when at home. I am, indeed, very thankful to them. I send them my blessing, and pray that God may bless and protect them. Very truly yours, Patrick J. Ryder, P.P. & V. F.
To the Editor of the Clare Journal.

Sheila

[Sduddy]

Here is photo of Ballyvaughan Church: https://www.irishgraveyards.ie/search.p ... pagenum=18

Sheila

[Sduddy]

The church in Ballyvaughan had been built on an exposed site and the first two attempts at putting the roof on it were set at naught by winter storms. The new curate, Fr. Francis Forde, then set about fund raising in the adjacent diocese of Galway (Ballyvaughan was in the diocese of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora): the Clare Journal, Thur 28 Aug 1862, copied this report from the Galway Vindicator:

The New Church of Ballyvaughan. We would direct the special attention of the Galway public to an advertisement in another column, announcing the arrival in Galway of the Rev. Father Forde, C.C., Ballyvaughan, for the purpose of soliciting aid to complete the new Catholic Church in that parish. Great exertions have been made by the poor people of the parish of Ballyvaughan to provide themselves with a suitable place of worship, and owing to the exposed situation of the building the roof was twice blown down by storm. It is now, however, being substantially re-roofed at a cost of over £300. And to enable the poor people of Ballyvaughan to accomplish the good work they are engaged in, the Rev. Father Forde has undertaken to appeal to a generous public on their behalf. We wish him every success, and, although the calls upon the public are numerous, we have no doubt his appeal will be responded to in Galway with that liberality so characteristic of our fellow-citizens. Galway Vindicator.

However, more funds were needed and Fr Ryder decided to send Fr. Forde to Australia, to collect funds there. Fr. Forde spent two years in Australia and arrived back in Dublin in December 1865. He was “most hospitably received and sumptuously entertained at the city residence of Pierce Creagh, Esq, J P, B L, and also at the Rev Mr Burns, the respected parish priest of New Quay, when he arrived in this county” (Clare Journal, 8 Jan 1866). His return was announced in the Clare Journal, Thur 28 Dec 1865:

The Rev. Francis Forde. This zealous clergyman, after an absence of more than two years in Australia, has arrived in Dublin by the Great Britain steamer. The rev gentleman was authorized by the Lord Bishop of Kilmacduagh and Kilfenora to make collections in Australia for the completion of the new church at Ballyvaughan, County Clare. The rev gentleman’s success in that respect was almost unprecedented, he having collected a very large sum of that purpose. On his departure from Melbourne he was presented with the following address. The parishioners of Ballyvaughan and the clergy and gentry of that district, hearing of the Rev F Fordes’s safe arrival, are making arrangements to entertain him at a public dinner in that town on New Year’s Day next, and to welcome him by a public entry into Ballyvaughan on that day. No compliment, however great, can be adequate to evince or testify the indelible debt of gratitude due by the parishioners of Ballyvaughan and by the Catholic Church in this country to the Rev Francis Forde for indefatigable and successful exertions in the cause of Catholicity.
To the Rev Francis Forde, Curate of Ballyvaughan, County of Clare, Ireland.
Rev and Dear Sir – Your being on the eve of returning to your native land, after a sojourn of nearly two years among us, we who have had the pleasure of being intimate with you during the whole of that period deem this a fitting opportunity of expressing our regret at your separation from us, and also to testify to your upright and gentlemanly demeanour, as well as to the zeal and industry with which you have carried out the important mission you came to this country to fulfil.
Your unexampled success must be a gratifying proof to your friends in Ireland of the general respect and esteem in which you were held by all parties with whom you came in contact while in this Colony, and we feel confident that your reception by those in whose behalf you have so successfully laboured will be equal to your desserts.
We now wish you a safe and speedy passage across the seas, and humbly pray that the Almighty God may grant you a long career of usefulness in His services, and in conclusion we fondly hope that when in your native land you will sometimes bestow a kindly thought on the many friends whom you leave in Victoria, and who now reluctantly bid you a long farewell. Melbourne, Victoria, Oct, 1865.

Three whole columns of the Clare Journal, of Thur 4 Jan 1866, were devoted to describing his reception in Ballyvaughan. A carriage and pair awaited his arrival in Oranmore, from whence he was conveyed by his friends to New Quay, where he became the guest of William J. Skerrett, Esq., of Finnavara House.

At an early hour on the first day of the new year, and notwithstanding the very great inclemency of the weather, a large number of people congregated in Ballyvaughan, and about noon a cavalcade consisting of cars and carriages, hundreds of equestrians, and thousands of pedestrians, proceeded to Finnavarra House, the hospitable mansion of Mr Skerrett, in order to convey the reverend gentleman to the church which he had laboured to rebuild, by a grand public procession. Immediately on arriving at New Quay the procession was formed. Mr Forde having taken his seat in an open carriage, which was decked profusely with evergreens and to which was harnessed four horses richly caparisoned with outriders gaily dressed, the cavalcade, which extended some two or three miles in length, began to move towards Ballyvaughan amidst the loud cheers of the thousands who accompanied it…..When the procession reached the church, which is a very tasteful and elegant structure, the reverend gentleman was met at the door by the Chapel Committee, and the following address was read by Dr Hogan, their efficient secretary: - Dear and Reverend Friend – With all the sincerity of our hearts, we bid you ‘caed mille failtha,’ on your return from a distant land, those fond ties of friendship and affection, which neither time or distance could efface form our memories. Dear and Reverend Friend – Words can but feebly express our high admiration of the zeal, self-reliance, and untiring energy with which you fulfilled the darling object of your sacred mission, the success of which has far exceeded our most sanguine expectations.

This was just the beginning of a long speech by Dr Hogan, to which Rev Forde read a reply thanking the clergy, gentry and parishioners and Almighty God and the charity and generousity of kind friends and fellow-countrymen in Victoria. This was followed by Benediction where the local choir sang “Adeste Fideles.” Then a large number of the gentlemen present adjourned to Mr Macnamara’s excellent hotel, where a sumptuous substantial dinner awaited them, and the Rev Forde was the guest of the evening. The chair was taken by Pierce Creagh, Esq, J P, and the vice-chair was filled by Dr Hogan. The first toast, by Pierce Creagh, was to the Queen, in the course of which he says, “By the permission of Divine Providence, their country was under the sway of Queen Victoria (loud and prolonged cheering). Without entering into any disquisition, or finding fault with the Royal family that now ruled them, he would only say there was a time when they would prefer the rule of the Catholic house of Stuart, but times were changed, and they should now submit to the decrees of Providence who now placed over them a good and virtuous queen (applause).” His speech on the queen continues and he finishes by saying

he was sorry she was placed in the hands of her present prime minister, for it was a notable fact the members of the Russell family, Lord Minto and Mr Elliot went to Rome, and with English gold spread disaffection amongst the subjects of his Holiness the Pope, who had as good a right to his throne as any other sovereign in the world (applause). How different was the conduct of the Irish priesthood at the present crisis, when they were found inculcating loyalty, obedience and respect to the Queen of England among the Catholic population of Ireland.

(I think the “crisis” he refers to must be the spread of Fenianism). Then there was a toast to the Pope (Pope Pius IX), and then one to Fr. Forde. Father Forde responded and thanked all present. In the course of his speech he mentions the welcome he had received in Victoria from Irishmen and also English and Scotchmen. He said,

With regard to our countrymen in that distant land, I must say I always found them to be right good fellows…. The people of Ballyvaughan should never forget the kindness and liberality of the people of Australia, and should always remember them in their prayers.

Then a toast to Rev Mr Ryder, parish priest of Ballyvaughan, to which Rev Ryder responded. He referred

to the kind reception Father Forde met with in Victoria from a Ballyvaughan man named James Nonan, who took him by the hand and gave him every support, and when Mr Forde met with opposition James Nonan came to his assistance…. The Chairman gave the health of James Nonan, whom he described as one of Nature’s noblemen and who left the country with no more than £15 or £20 in his pocket, but by his industry, honesty and integrity, he was now worth £15,000 to £20,000.

The next toast was to the Chapel Committee and to the curate, Rev Mr Crowe, to which Rev Crowe responded. Then a toast to the diocese of Kilmacduagh, “one of the oldest diocese in Ireland,” to which both Rev McDonough and Rev Nagle responded. Then the health of Colonel Macnamara, Lord Annally and Mr Gregory Martyn, as landlord subscribers. Then the health of Alderman Lane Joynt, the chairman stating that he had promised one of the best bells that could be procured for the chapel when the tower was built. Then the health of the Dinner Committee, coupled with “their efficient secretaries, Dr Hogan and Mr F Curtin.” Dr Hogan returned thanks and “several other toasts having been drunk, the Rev Mr Ryder proposed the health of their chairman.” In responding Mr Creagh mentioned that it was “a matter of history that his ancestors lost much by clinging to the old faith. His namesake Pierce Creagh lost immense estates in the county of Limerick for his adhesion to Catholicity, and to the cause of James II.”

Several other individual toasts were proposed and responded to, after which some good songs were given and the proceedings came to a conclusion about 12 o’clock when all present separated after spending a very social pleasant evening together.

Sheila