Annual Tractor Run in Bandon Union took place again this year!

Posted on February 1, 2022 by mediaccr

Canon Denis MacCarthy, Rector of Bandon Union of Parishes, writes:

After an absence last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic the annual Tractor Run was held again this year on Sunday 23rd of January. The first parish Tractor Run took place in 2016, and on that day 90 Tractors took part. Over the years the event has grown to include vintage/classic cars, trucks and jeeps. This year a little over 350 vehicles took part in the run, 209 tractors, 70 trucks, 70 cars and 12 jeeps. 

Tractors lining up

The run started at the Mart in Bandon, and it was led off by a Vintage Fire Brigade, making its way to Ballinadee, Ballinspittle, and Garretstown, turning right up the hill and back on to the Kilbrittain Road, through the village of Kilbrittain and back to the Mart for refreshments and the all-important raffle! 

The Tractor Run has become an important cross community event and social occasion, and great friendships and connections have been made over the years. The event gives us a significant foot print in the life of the town, as it is now seen as an important part of the yearly social and charity calendars. 

One of the vintage cars at the Tractor Run

The fact that the Covid-19 regulations were relaxed on the Friday before the event, resulted in a much bigger attendance than expected, enabling us to raise our biggest sum yet of €13,500. The funds raised are in aid of BASC (Bandon Area Special Children), Cork Down Syndrome Centre and St. Peter’s Development Fund.

I would like to thank the Dream Team, or should I say the Deane Team, Jean and Tom, Sinead and Ger Seaman, and Laura Kingston for all the work and organisation they put in to the successful running of the event. I would also like to thank all those who acted as stewards on the day, volunteers who helped with the registration for the raffle and many others. Special thanks to those who donated to the raffle and to our sponsors. We would also like to thank Bandon Mart and the Old Still for the use of their facilities. 

Come along and join us next year for a great day out!

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Christian Unity in Douglas – WPCU2022

Posted on January 24, 2022 by mediaccr

To round up the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022 in Cork, Cloyne and Ross, today’s video was filmed in Douglas, where the Ven. Adrian Wilkinson, Archdeacon of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and Fr Pat O’Mahony talked about their ecumenical relationship.

The video features both, the Roman Catholic Church of St Columbus and the Church of Ireland Church of St Luke. In the spirit of this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the video connects our journey as Christians to the journey of the Magi to the Christ Child.

You can watch the video here.

The Ven. Adrian Wilkinson and Fr Pat O’Mahony in St Columbus’s Church, Douglas.
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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2022

Posted on January 18, 2022 by mediaccr

Canon Daniel Nuzum, Ecumenical Officer in the Diocese of Cork Cloyne and Ross introduces this year’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity:

‘We saw his star in the East..’
‘Chonaiceamar a réalta ag éirí…’

This year is the 55th international Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (WPCU). The octave of prayer runs from 18th to 25th January each year as a focussed time of prayer, reflection, study and witness to pray for the visible unity of Christians. It is a response to Christ’s call to us that we would be one.

This year the text for the WPCU was prepared by Christians in the Middle East – the cradle of Christianity. A cradle that is so vividly recalled for us in the crib we build each Christmas. It is poignant at this time when the Christian Community in the Holy Land is fragile, that we offer our prayerful support for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and like the first Epiphany when the Magi or Wise Men followed the star in the East to find the Christ child, that we too look once again to this fragile place to find and give hope for unity and solidarity as people of faith. Like the first Epiphany, the Star shone above an uncertain place to bring light to the world in Jesus Christ.

In our Cork area our Ecumenical Standing Committee from the Church of Ireland, the Catholic Church, the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church has a strong and committed relationship of prayer and friendship. As ever, we encourage local Christians to seek every opportunity to work together in the
service of Christ and to find ways of praying and witnessing together throughout the year.

Material for each day of the week can be downloaded from https://ctbi.org.uk/resources-for-week-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-2022/.

I encourage everyone to take time individually this year to pray for unity. Things are so different for us all during this time of pandemic, however, what a powerful witness it would be for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East in the midst of such uncertainty to know that we are taking time to pray with and for them over these days. I encourage you to light a candle, or place a star of hope in your home and share a photo on social media as we too look towards the light that is Christ this Week of Prayer.


Please use the hashtag #WPCU2022 on social media.

Canon Daniel Nuzum
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Christingle Celebration in Mallow Union

Posted on January 13, 2022 by mediaccr

Mallow Union of Parishes held their Christingle celebration on the 2nd January 2022. The Rev. Meurig Williams reflects on the past Christmas and Christingle celebrations and writes: 

As in many other parishes, this year, there was a measure of apprehension throughout Advent in Mallow Union, as we witnessed rising infection levels, wondering whether further restrictions might apply to places of worship. In order to mitigate against crowded churches, it was felt inappropriate to publicise Christmas worship, particularly our candle-lit carol services, in the local media. Instead, posters outside our three churches and information on social media ‘did the talking.’  

Despite this low-key approach, people came in very encouraging numbers, even though we managed to keep to the ‘safety capacity’ at all services, including the celebrations of the Eucharist on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and St Stephen’s Day. As well as drawing regular worshippers, it was good to welcome visitors and people worshipping with us for the first time.  

We celebrated the feast of the Epiphany on Sunday 2nd January and, in addition to the usual pattern of morning worship in Castletownroche and Doneraile, there was a Christingle Celebration at the largest of our three churches, St James’s, Mallow. It drew over 50 people, comprising mainly of young children with their families. This was encouraging, given that there was no additional publicity in the wider community and some of our regular families were away for the holiday period. Again, we were glad to see new faces. A team of people had spent several hours the day before preparing the Christingles. We had originally planned to have a big party afterwards, but the public health guidance made that inappropriate.  

The Christingle Celebration itself lasted just over half an hour, combining joyful festivity with a sense of wonder and mystery. This was especially evident as a group of youngsters and their parents brought their lit Christingles to the crib to sing ‘silent night, holy night.’ 

As we reflected on the scriptures for the feast of the Epiphany, we reminded ourselves of how the magi were strangers from a part of the world that was barely known and understood at the time of Jesus, and how this encourages us to see the world as much bigger than ourselves, as people from different cultures, languages and backgrounds bring gifts to enrich our lives as Christian people for the future.

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Rector of Cobh and Glanmire Union installed as Canon for St Patrick’s Cathedral

Posted on January 10, 2022 by mediaccr

On Sunday, 9th January 2022, the Incumbent of Cobh and Glanmire Union of Parishes, Canon Paul Arbuthnot, was installed as Prebendary of Castleknock in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.

Canon Paul Arbuthnot

Canon Arbuthnot commented:

I am delighted to have been elected a Canon of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin. It is very much a homecoming for me, as I was a member of the choir there in my student days. I look forward to contributing to the rich and varied life of the collegiate body and to take my place as a member of chapter as Prebendary of Castleknock.

Bishop Paul Colton said:

Having been rector of Castleknock in the 1990s, I myself know well the extensive area that, in previous centuries, provided the prebend for the Prebendary of Castleknock in the National Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Dublin.  Productive agricultural land at one time, it is now, of course, a vast suburban part of Dublin.  I have pleasure, therefore, on behalf of us in Cork, Cloyne and Ross, in warmly congratulating Canon Paul Arbuthnot, Rector of Cobh and Glanmire, on the occasion of his installation as Prebendary of Castleknock in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, having been elected by the Cathedral Chapter late last year.

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