Linda Spillane
On a lovely, bright Sunday morning Fr. Richard O Halloran celebrated his final mass in St. Nicholas’s Church, Ballyduff.
Following over seven years of dedicated service to the parish of Ballyduff/Portlaw Fr. Richard will now minister as Parish Priest of Tramore including Carbally, Dunhill and Fenor.
While everyone attending the Mass felt sad knowing that Fr. Richard was leaving, they were also there to show their appreciation and thanks for the wonderful service he has given to our parish.
Fr. Richard O’Halloran.
From the day he arrived it was evident that he was prepared to give 100% to the Parish and that his faith and beliefs were of utmost importance to him.
He had a genuine concern and interest in people and took time to get to know people and was on hand to offer any help and support to anyone in need of it.
His dedication really shone through during Covid, he arranged online Masses, reflections and kept people feeling a togetherness as they were missing their daily and weekend masses.
Through the internet people were able to connect and have a feeling of community. Fr. Richard really made a huge impact on our community, and he will be sadly missed.
However, at the recent Mass he was keen to point out that he would not be far away and was sure that our paths will cross over the coming months and years.
St. Nicholas Church, Ballyduff.
I have always found Fr. Richard’s sermons enlightening and have always come away from them feeling a spiritual lift.
I listened as he spoke of how he has always rated contentment over happiness. We all search for that elusive happiness while forgetting that simply being content with where you are and with what you have is enough and is actually the utmost happiness.
He thanked everyone for their kindness throughout his time here and was grateful for all the support and help he had received.
During the Mass, Chairperson of the Parish Council John Stephenson thanked Fr. Richard for his commitment and dedication to the parish and praised him for his service to the parish and its people. He and Margaret Carlin then presented Fr. Richard with a token on behalf of the people of the parish.
A big thank you to John Hearne who gave his time to take some lovely photographs on the day and people were delighted to have a lovely group photo taken on the altar. Young and old wished Fr. Richard well and we hope that he will find great happiness and contentment in Tramore.
John Deevy, John Stephenson, Fr. Richard O’Halloran and Cllr John O’Leary. Photos: John Hearne.
We look forward to the arrival of our new priest Fr. Francis Xavier and hope that he will enjoy his time here too. We will extend our famous welcome to him, and he will be given the same kindness and support every priest has ever been given.
We are very lucky that he is coming to us, and we still have Fr. Mick also serving our parish. Our parish celebrates its 200th year this year and all these wonderful men have played a huge part in the devotion and spiritual well-being of our community.
“The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you “
Is Father O’Byrne still there? My daughter and I visited in the 80’s and he took us to The Long Barn to eat. My Dad was born in this area in 1900 and we are in California USA now but wanted very much to see his start in life. He was Edmund Bernard Spread and I am Judith Spread Knutsen, St. Nicholas Church is where he was baptized.