Large crowd attends mass in Loughcrew to mark St Oliver Plunkett milestones
Image 1 of 9
Members of The Order of Saint LazarusImage 2 of 9
Entrance Procession honouring St Oliver PlunkettImage 3 of 9
Procession bringing the bone Relics of St Oliver Plunkett to the AlterImage 4 of 9
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Eamon Martin with Bartle D’ArcyImage 5 of 9
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Eamon Martin., pictured with Emily Naper Dame of the Order St. LazarusImage 6 of 9
Jake Pakenham speaking at Loughcrew to mark St Oliver Plunkett MilestonesImage 7 of 9
Fr Seamus Heaney, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Eamon Martin.Image 8 of 9
The Bishop of Meath Tom Deenihan celebrating mass at LoughcrewImage 9 of 9
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, Eamon Martin, The Bishop of Meath Tom Deenihan.Hundreds of people attended a special open Mass on June 29 in Loughcrew to commemorate two major anniversaries in the life of the Church. The 400th anniversary of the birth of St Oliver Plunkett and the 50th anniversary of his canonisation.
St Oliver Plunkett was born in Loughcrew on November 1, 1625. He studied at the Irish College in Rome and was ordained in 1654.
He later returned to Ireland as Archbishop of Armagh before being martyred in 1681. He was canonised on October 12, 1975 by Pope Paul VI and remains the most recent Irish saint to be canonised.
The Mass, organised by the Diocese of Meath, took place at 3:00pm at St Oliver’s birthplace in Loughcrew, it was celebrated by the Bishop of Meath, Tom Deenihan, with the homily delivered by the Most Reverend Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All Ireland and 13th successor to St Oliver.
The celebration was open to the public, with large numbers travelling from across the region to attend. The event concluded with prayers at the nearby heritage sites associated with St Oliver’s early life.