Fr. Ryder, Ballyvaughan, thanks friends in Australia
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2020 12:03 pm
The Clare Journal, Monday 25 April, 1859:
SheilaAustralian 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.