The parishioners and community in north-east County Cork had a wonderfully uplifting time at St Luke’s Knockmourne over the weekend of the 5th to 7th of June when they celebrated the bicentenary of the church.

On the Friday evening the church was open to show off the skills of the parish and local flower arrangers. A booklet on the history of the church by Kevin Walsh and Tom Finn was launched, and there was a display based on the history, including photographs of rectors, past and present. This was followed by a Service of Compline.

On Saturday people gathered from many parts, especially  those with a connection to the parish, were welcomed for afternoon tea. That evening the Church hosted a concert with music from Torcán,  supplemented by local talent, Sineád, Margaret and Andrew. This was very popular and certainly filled the little church with joy.

Sunday dawned dry and the church was the starting & finishing point for a vintage car rally. A lovely collection of cars including a Morgan, a TR7, three VW beetles and a Honda Civic lined up to take a tour of the local countryside before returning to the church, where the human participants were refuelled with lunch and tea and cake. That evening there was a service of “Songs of Praise” with favourite hymns, which were sung to the accompaniment of the piano brought in for the previous evening’s concert played by Caroline Senior.

Later in the year, the celebrations will continue when the Bishop, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, will visit the parish to celebrate the Patronal Festival and Harvest Thanksgiving on Saint Luke’s Day, 18th of October at 3pm.

Here are photos from the weekend:

Copies of “200 Years of Prayer and Praise” are available from the parish for €5.00 plus postage.

Keep in touch with what the parish is doing on the parish Facebook page.