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The present Parish
of Crossabeg
comprises the older
Parishes of
Artramont,
Kilpatrick and
Tykillen. Artramont
was dedicated to St.
Brigid, the ruins of
the church can still
be seen along with
the graveyard in
Artramont and St.
Brigid's Well is a
short distance away.
Kilpatrick (Cill
Phadraig) as the
name indicates, was
dedicated to St. Patrick, and was
appropriated in the
13th century to the
priory of
Glascarraig.
The ruins can still
be seen in the
demesne of
Saunderscourt.
The
Romanesque doorway
once belonged to the
church of St. David
at Ballinaslaney in
the present Parish
of Oylegate.
Fr. Redmond Roche,
P.P. of Crossabeg
1789-1819 is buried
in this graveyard
and St. Patrick's
well is located in
the adjacent field.
Tykillen (Tigh
Cilian) was named
after St. Killian -
Irish Bishop and
martyr. Only a few
overgrown stones
mark the outline of
St. Killian's Church
in the centre of the
now closed
graveyard. St.
Killian's well is
located five miles
away on the road
from Crossabeg to
Ballymurn.
St. Killian's feast day is
celebrated on July 8th and this
is traditionally associated with
Patron day in Crossabeg with
Masses and prayers being said in
the graveyards on the Sunday
nearest July the 8th. In more
recent times the Patron day was
fixed for the first Sunday in
July but, since 2002 has been
held on the first Saturday in
July with Mass at 7.00pm. This
change was necessitated by the
change in the G.A.A. calendar which
has fixed the Leinster Senior
hurling final in Croke Park for
the first Sunday in July.
The old church in Crossabeg was
built in 1765, but was burned in
the aftermath of the 1798
rebellion on 24th June, 1799. It
was rebuilt in 1803 and remained
in use until the new (present)
church was opened in 1914. The
site of this church is marked by
the Calvary in the lower section
of the present graveyard in Sion,
Crossabeg which was erected and
blest in 1934 following the
demolition of the old (Fr.
Dixon's) Parochial House.
The foundation stone for the new
church was blest and laid by the
Bishop Most Rev. Dr. Browne on
August 25th 1912 along with a
sealed bottle containing
newspapers and coins of the
period together with a record of
the ceremony inscribed on
parchment in both Latin and
Irish:
"For the Glory of God. James,
Bishop of Ferns in the 28th year
of his rule, for the greater
glory of God and the good of
religion, laid the Foundation
stone of the Roman Catholic
Church of Crossabeg and placed
it under the patronage of
Saints Patrick, Brigid and
Killian."
Thus the old medieval parishes
of Kilpatrick (Saunderscourt),
St. Brigid (Artramont) and
St. Killian (Tykillen) were
united.
The new church was completed and
opened on Sunday, August 2nd
1914. The total cost was
£6,244.00 including all
furnishings, stained glass
windows etc. The woodwork was
executed by Mr. J. Shipley of
Blackwater, a master craftsman.
The church is a handsome Gothic
- style stone building with
granite quoins and limestone
dressings. There is a small
window at each side of the main
door and a belfry surmounts the
entrance gable. Over the
entrance are three lancet
windows lighting the choir
gallery. Six similar windows
are on the right-hand side of
the church and five on the
left-hand side which has a side
porch (now used for wheel-chair
access). Over the high altar are
three lancet stained-glass
windows by Meyer of Munich
depicting two of the church
patrons St. Patrick and St.
Brigid and in the centre the
Sacred Heart. At the left-hand
side of the sanctuary two
similar windows depict the third
Patron - St. Killian, and St.
Aidan- the Patron Saint of the
Diocese of Ferns. The
invocations are in Irish and
decorated with Celtic motifs.
Beside the High Altar are
statues of St. Gerard Majella
and St. Benedict, while side
altars at the edge of the
sanctuary are devoted to Our
Lady and St. Joseph. The
boundary wall which is built in
the same style as the church
complements the main building.
It is constructed of rough
sandstone and the three
entrances have wrought-iron
gates with piers of dressed
limestone. The grounds which are
regarded as one of the most
beautiful in the Diocese were
laid out in 1915. The
Harvey and Walker families came
to the aid of the Parish. They
provided their own private
gardeners - William Roche and
Matthew Murphy - to do the work.
It is planted with ornamental
trees and flowering shrubs
providing bloom from March
through to November each year.
During the period 1869 -1970
Ballymurn became the "Parish"
church. In 1869 the then curate
at Ballymurn Fr. Edmund Doyle (CC from 1858) was promoted
Parish Priest but elected to
stay in Ballymurn with the new
curate moving to Crossabeg. This
custom was continued until
January 1970 when the very Rev.
William Grattan- Flood PP, Templetown, was transferred to
Crossabeg following the death of
Very Rev. James Canon Murphy, PP
and the transfer of the resident
curate - Fr. Seamus O'Byrne - to
Wexford.
With both positions being vacant
Fr. Grattan-Flood chose
Crossabeg. "It was time to
restore the old order" Fr.
Grattan-Flood a noted church
historian and son of Chevalier
W. H. Grattan-Flood, author of
the history of the diocese of
Ferns, said upon his arrival in
the Parish! In the priest's
burial plot located within the
church grounds can be seen the
grave and monument to Fr. James
Dixon (1758-1840) the famous
"Convict Priest". Fr. Dixon, a
native of Castlebridge, was
appointed CC
Crossabeg to assist
Fr. Redmond Roche,
PP in 1794.
Fr. Dixon was transported to
Australia following the 1798
rebellion, arriving there in
January 1800 and became the
first Prefect Apostolic
appointed by the Holy See to
Australia. On his return home
Fr. Dixon was reappointed as
curate to Crossabeg in 1811
becoming PP in 1819 where he
remained until his death in
1840. The bi-centenary of the
first public Mass on Australian
soil celebrated by Fr James
Dixon on May 15th 1803 in Sydney
was commemorated in Crossabeg
Church on May 15th 2003 by
Bishop David Cremin, representing
the Archdiocese of Sydney, in the
presence of a distinguished
gathering of diocesan clergy,
Australian and Irish cultural
representatives and local people. |
