The Very Revd Cliff Jeffers, Dean of Ross and Chancellor of St Fin Barre’s Cathedral, recently travelled with his wife, Eunice, to the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, where he represented St Fin Barre’s Cathedral and the United Dioceses of Cork, Cloyne and Ross at the unveiling and blessing of a new bronze statue of St Barr, or St Fin Barre as we know him in Cork.

The visit took place on St Fin Barre’s Day, 25 September, and celebrated a remarkable connection stretching back more than 1,400 years, to when St Fin Barre brought Christianity from Cork to the island that would come to bear his name.

Dean Jeffers reports from his visit:

The Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides is named after St Barr, or St. Fin Barre as we know him, who brought Christianity to the island in the late 6th century from his base in Cork. You can still see the ruins of Barra’s ancient churches dedicated to St Barr. Northbay’s new Roman Catholic Church, built in 1906, is dedicated to St. Barr.

Barra is a small island (14km x 10km) situated off the northwest coast of Scotland with a population of around 1200. The island can be reached by air from Glasgow or by ferry from Oban. Their airport boasts the only commercial runway in the world where planes land on and take off from a beach. There are many similarities between Barra and West Cork. Their coastal landscape is awash with fuchsias and ferns, their Gaelic language and our Gaeilge can be used to converse, traditional Scottish music & dance are not too different from our own and even more noticeable was the same warm, friendliness of the islanders.

When the islanders were planning on unveiling their new bronze sculpture of St. Barr, Jerry O’Donovan, the Consul General of Ireland to Scotland, whose family are from Durrus in West Cork, made the connection between St. Fin Barre’s Irish roots and his mission to this small Scottish island community and brought it to the attention of the local newspapers in Cork.

Responding to the article in the Evening Echo and Southern Star, Dean Cliff and Eunice Jeffers travelled to the Isle of Barra for St. Fin Barre’s day, 25th September to represent both St Fin Barre’s Cathedral and the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross at the unveiling and blessing of the new statue of St. Barr in Northbay harbour.

The event began with bi-lingual Mass (Scot’s Gaelic and English) celebrated by Canon John Paul McKinnon in a full St. Barr’s Church after which Jerry O’Donovan and Dean Cliff Jeffers addressed the assembled congregation.

Jerry O’Donovan spoke of the importance of St. Fin Barre to the people of Cork and the links between Cork and Barra through our shared Patron Saint. Dean Jeffers brought the greetings of Bishop Elect, Andrew Orr and the Dean of St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral, The Very Rev. Nigel Dunne in Irish Gaelic. He thanked the people of Barra for their warm welcome and hoped that the link between St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral and the isle of Barra could be further developed in the future.

The clergy and unveiling party were led by a pipe band from the church to the slipway, to travel by boat to a small island where the statue of St. Barr is located. The statue was unveiled by some of the main benefactors and then blessed by the Parish Priest of Barra, Canon MacKinnon with Holy Water which had been brought from St. Fin Barre’s well in Gougane Barra and blessed by Bishop Fintan Gavin, the Roman Catholic bishop of Cork and Ross.

A reception followed in the parochial hall with a generous supply of local seafood, traditional music and a Céilí.

It is hoped that through the establishment of this link with the Isle of Barra which goes back over 1,400 years, that future connections between the Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross and the people and churches in Barra can be developed in the years ahead.

Dean Cliff Jeffers
Dean of Ross and Chancellor of St. Fin Barre’s Cathedral