Celebration of 200^th year of Athlunkard Street

Mass in St. Mary’s Church

It’s not everyday that we celebrate a street at Mass! And even more, it’s not everyday that we know the precise age of the Street that we are celebrating, April 26, 1824. I am grateful to Denis O’Shaughnessy who has provided us with great recollections and historical details about the Street whose 200^th anniversary that we marked two days ago, in many ways a main street, as it were, of St. Mary’s parish.  Many of you will have read Denis’ book and I’m grateful for the presentation of the symbols at the beginning of this Mass that called to mind some significant elements of the past two hundred years. There are also so many architectural wonderful features associated with this Street – from Bourke’s house to St. Mary’s Cathedral that dominates the skyline of Athlunkard Street to the O’Dwyer bridge at the other end of the street.

It was good to start our Mass by offering symbols as a way of recognising God’s part in the history of Athlunkard Street. At Mass, indeed, we get a chance to say “thanks” to God. There are many reasons to give thanks to God, but I want to focus on just three.

First, thanks because the community of this street has been creative and productive. Its packet and tripe emporiums fed the city while the pig buyers assured the city of bacon and ham on the table. It also produced sport champions. It is said that Shannon and Garryowen have their roots here. We think of the Athlunkard Boat club. It produced music and choirs, singing groups and the St. Mary’s Fife and Drum Band. It is said the famous refrain “There is an isle” has its roots in Athlunkard Street. It gave life to many organizations, one of which was St. Mary’s Credit Union. Of course, it produced shops, pubs, and a bakery. The young men of this area produced with Fr. Richard Baptist O’Brien a new society that was to spread and become famous the world over, the Catholic Young Mens Society. People are rightly proud of all this street has produced.

In particular, at this Mass, I want to suggest a second reason to give thanks is for how people of this street and parish have known how to lift up their eyes to heaven, to God as we see in the building of this beautiful church that was built here to replace the penal church that stood here since 1749 (at which survivors of the great sieges of Limerick [1690-91] would have been in attendance). We know that Fr. James White started the first book of parish records here in 1745 which we still have. They are now the second oldest of their kind in the country. But, getting back to this church, we remember how, at a time of great financial hardship, this church was built and in just under two years, the then parish priest, Fr. Hannon was able to announce that the entire debt of the Church which stood at £47.000, had been cleared, a huge amount at that time.  People were so generous. People were careful about looking after the beautiful church building because, in good times and in tough times, people lifted their eyes to God. They didn’t forget their creator and saviour. Echoing what St. John tells us in the Second Reading today, they believed in name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. So many baptisms, Confirmations, weddings and funerals have been celebrated here, all community events that built community, forged identity and wrapped a sense of belonging around the people of this area. And we then with gratitude of the many priests who served in this parish.

And that brings me to the third reason to give thanks today and it is the main one – we remember in gratitude the people of previous and present generations who persevered in good and bad times to provide a sense of belonging, community and identity. The past two hundred years weren’t always easy, but through it all, people showed great resilience at times of poverty, famine and disease and managed to create a neighbourly spirit counting on God’s help. They remembered the great commandment that Jesus gave us – the New Commandment to love one another. That’s the heart of community life. If we live that, we form a community. Without it, we fall into divisions and isolation and loneliness. We think of the generations and thank them for what they handed on to us. I know, for instance, the Fitzgerald family has a history going back to the early days of the Street. I think of Mrs. Elizabeth Lyons who was christened here 101 years ago. There have been many personalities and characters. All of these neighbours and friends and characters built up the Street not simply as a road but as a community. It’s a community that for two hundred years has been growing and developing even in the face of adversity. And that is true even in our times. Despite the devastating floods of 2014, when many of the 150 year old cottages were destroyed, residents, as their forebears did, showed their resilience to adversity and came through with renewal of their houses and the street they love so well.

So let’s thank God for this street that has been productive, that has lifted up our eyes to God through this beautiful church, but above all for the community spirit that has endured. Let’s pray that current and future generations will take on the wonderful heritage now entrusted to them.