Calvary and Grotto

Calvary and Grotto The Calvary, The Stations of the Cross, The Burial Ground, The old Gentili Crypt, The Lourdes Grotto, St. Gentili Garden

Judes Shrine, The Devine Mercy Shrine, The Gentili Garden, The Blessed Antonio Rosmini Chapel.

02/09/2020

Calvery, Omeath, Co. Louth

The Calvary, The Stations of the Cross, The Burial Ground, The Old Gentili Crypt, The Lourdes Grotto, St. Judes Shrine, The Devine Mercy Shrine, The Gentili Garden, The Blessed Antonio Rosmini Chapel.

02/09/2020

History of the Area

From early times the area around Omeath has been settled. A ring fort is situated at Knocknagora.
From the 8th century, the area was the kingdom of the O’Carroll family. Around the 10th century the area was ruled by Donachadh O’Carroll and his clan.
It is recorded that the area had been settled by people from “UI Meith Tire” in County Monaghan.
In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Vikings plundered the shores of Ireland. The area around Omeath was no exception. Although no settlements of the Danish invader have been found in the area, we can assume that some sort of settlement was established in the safe and very deep waters of Carlingford Lough. The Danes were defeated at the battle of Clantarf in 1014, by Brian Boru, the High King of Ireland. This battle ended the reign of terror of the Norsemen.
In the years 1189/91 Ireland was invaded again, this time from across the Irish Sea, by the Normans. Beatrrain De Verdon was granted the lands of the North Louth by John, Lord of Ireland, the future king John of England.
Around the year 1590 Tiernan O’Rourke from Breffni in Co. Monaghan, invaded the Cooley area and plundered the “UI Meith”.
After the Reformation in the middle of the 16th century, the Abbey of Newry and the lands of the Dominicans, which comprised most of Cooley, were given to Nicholas Bagenal and Edward Moore. These men came from Wales and England.
The Bagenal family ruled the area around Omeath from Taffes Castle in Carlingford and their stronghold in Newry. This family was the main landlord in the area from 1548 until the death of another Nicholas Bagenal in 1712. He was the last of the Bagenal family in Ireland.
In 1714 the lands were inherited by Edward Bayly. This family were absentee landlords and the area was ruled by their agents in Newry. All monies from rents and crops were returned to the Bayly family in Wales to pay for their lavish lifestyle.
In 1854 the Marquis of Anglesey who was a Bayly died. This was the end of the Anglesey era in North Louth. In 1857 his son James, who had no interest in the property, wanted to sell the land. The property was auctioned off in 28 lots by the Encumbered Estate Courts, a special department setup by the British administration in Dublin, to distribute properties belonging to absentee landlords who no longer had any interest in Ireland.
The area around Omeath, including Ballyoonan, was purchased by Alexander Campbell from Warrenpoint.
During the lifetime of the Marquis, in 1840, one portion of the property was sold to the Rev Robert Walker Greer, who was a pastor in the reformed Church. On this property he built the Ballyoonan house. The Rev Greer was involved in many local projects including the er****on of a Quay on Carlingford Lough, still known as Greer’s Quay. He remained on the property for about 10 years but with the advent of the railway line from Dundalk to Newry, the Rev Greer decided to sell the property, as his peace was disturbed by the passing trains.
Around the year 1885, Mr McCreanor, a Belfast man, purchased the house. In the late 1890s the new owner became ill and decided to move to Belfast to receive further treatment for his condition. He wished to donate the house and land to develop an orphanage, but there was no local interest in this project.

02/09/2020

The Rosminian Order & Calvary

On the 20th May 1901, the Rosminian Order took possession of Ballyoonan House. Mr McCreanor and his Family had donated the House and lands to the Order. The house was renamed as St. Michaels. It became a Novitiate and remained so for 25 years. It then became a Juniorate and late in 1935 a Scholasticate. After the Emergency 1939/45, when students could go back to Rome, the Juniorate was reopened. It became a fully-fledged Secondary and Boarding school from 1956 to its closure in 1986.
The Rosminian Institute was founded in 1830, on Mount Calvario, Domadossola in Northern Italy.
In most Rosminian Houses, The Way of the Cross is erected. The Calvary we have here in Omeath came from the Rosminian Order’s House at Sainghin in France, when it was forced to close. An anticlerical Government in France expelled all Religious Institutes. The Fathers were able to save the Sainghin Calvary and have it shipped to Ireland where it now has a lasting home in the Omeath Calvary.
The Calvary group from Sainghin consisted of, Our Lord Crucified, Our Lady of Sorrows and St. John. These figures were unveiled on Saint Patrick’s Day, 1908. The figure of St. Mary Magdalen was added later that year. It was also in cast iron and came from Bavaria. The previous owner’s niece, Ann McCreanor, had gifted the statue to the new Calvary location.
The McCreanor Family also donated a set of the Stations of the Cross which were erected around the high cross.
Inserted in the Cross of each Station are some grains of earth taken from the path of the original Via Dolorosa (The Sorrowful Way) trod on by the Man of Sorrows. Inserted in the rock at the base of the Crucifix are 2 glass cases. The one on the left contains earth from the garden of Gethsemane and the one on the right from the Crib at Bethlehem. Behind and beneath the Cross in the tomb of the dead Christ, and over the Tomb can be seen a replica of one of the nails used in the Sacred Passion.
The stations were canonically erected and Indulgenced by the Cardinal Logue, Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh on 2nd April 1909.
It was one of the first public Via Crusis (Way of the Cross) erected in Ireland.
In 1938 the remains of Father Luigi Gentili were transferred to a crypt on the site.
Father Gentili was an Italian priest, from the Rosminian Order, who was born in Rome in 1801.
He was ordained in Rome and went on missionary work to the UK. In 1839 he preached the first public Mission given in England since the Reformation. He is famous for public missions and he introduced the 40-hour devotion, May devotions and Corpus Christi processions. He was a tireless worker in England and endured many hardships. He started coming to Ireland in 1845. While on missionary work in Dublin he contracted, what was called “The Famine Fever”. At that stage, some women whom he had met on his missionary work took Father Gentili under their protection. Lord and Lady Bellew took him to their home at Barmeath Castle in Co. Louth, to nurse him back to health. While resident at Barmeath Castle he used a kneeler to continue his prayerful life. The kneeler was donated by Lord Bellew to the Chapel of Fr Antonio Rosmini on the Calvary grounds.
Father Gentili died in Dublin in 1848. He had been conducting a Mission at St. John’s lane, a small church at the heart of Dublin, which was run by the Augustinian Order. He was buried in Glasnevin cemetery, beside the O’Connell Monument.
In 1938 the Superior General of Rosminian Order, also known as the Institute of Charity, decided that the remains of Father Gentili should be transferred to their property in Omeath. A Crypt was created at the Omeath site and Father Gentili was re-interred there.

02/09/2020

The Lourdes Grotto

In the year 1958, on the Centenary of the Lourdes Apparition, the Lourdes Grotto was erected. This was done through donations, local labour and members of the Rosminian Order.
In the 1970’s, St. Jude’s Shrine was erected. The builder and architect was Mr Fagan from the Burren region on the Mourne Mountains. He was assisted by families in Newry and the surrounding area.
When the building was completed the area then became popularly known as St. Jude’s Shrine.

02/09/2020

Novena to St. Jude

In the early 1970’s, local women start a Novena to St. Jude. This devotion to St. Jude attracted large crowds to the site and the numbers have grown over the years. The annual devotion is held each year in the first weeks of June. Initially it was an open-air event. However, weather and insects proved big problems for the organisers. The event was then moved to St. Laurence’s Church in Omeath. The following years the event moved back to Calvary where a marquee was erected. The event is now celebrated in the New Chapel.
In 2007, a local man sought sponsorship to complete the Tain Walk. He raised a large amount of funds with the intention of creating an open-air Shrine to the Devine Mercy. A walk was done on the 5th October 2007, the Feast day of St. Faustina, and took 16½ hours to complete.
Due to the generosity of the people he found himself with a surplus of funds, most of which was handed over to Brother Kane who oversaw the Calvary site. The remaining €400 was given to Peter Mallon for work towards the Calvary project.
This is now the starting point for the annual Stations of the Cross which takes place each Friday during Lent. The ceremonies start at 3pm and people attend from all over the region.
In early 2000, Peter Mallon, a local man, sought permission from the Rosminian Order to have a Memorial Mass celebrated in honour of Father Gentili. This Mass is offered each year on the last Sunday in September.

02/09/2020

Fr Gentili Memorial Garden

In the same year Peter, who took a keen interest in the Calvary project, wanted to organise the area properly. He developed a great interest in Father Gentili and he reached the conclusion, that the waste ground at the back of Calvary, beside the Lough, should be developed as a Memorial Garden to Father Gentili. He sought permission from the Rosminian Order to do this.
Through the generosity of several people from the local area, which included Omeath, Newry, South Down and North Louth, work started on the project. However, before the groundwork was completed the “Greenway” project began. Permission was sought to go right through the middle of the Memorial Garden. The “Greenway” committee consulted with the Rosminian Order, who agreed that the Greenway development should be facilitated. They gave permission for the Greenway to run through the garden. So today the “Greenway” is part of the “Father Gentili Memorial” garden.
Peter then turned his attention to the large green area in front of the Calvary Statues. Following discussions with the Rosminian Order it was decided to build a Chapel in honour of Fr Antonio Rosmini, the founder of the Rosminian Order, on this site. Fr Antonio was beatified on the 18th November 2007. This idea was brought to fruition through the generosity of the Order, benefactors and local volunteers. The splendid new Chapel was officially opened on the 24th September 2014 by Archibishop Eamon Martin from Armagh on what is known as “Gentili Sunday”. The Chapel is known as “The Chapel of Blessed Antonio Rosmini”.
Nowadays people of all faiths and none walk the grounds of Calvary, The Grotto, The Stations of the Cross and the Gentili Memorial Garden.
There are many testimonials to the Peace and Serenity of the site and indeed claims of cures have attributed to both St. Jude and Father Gentili.

“We have our own Holy Land right here in the Calvary of Omeath”
Father Oliver Stansfield, homily on the Feast Day of Father Rosmini.

02/09/2020

The Gardens

Brother Kane was a member of the Rosminian Order, which had returned to Ireland from the Foreign Missions in Africa. He came to work in St. Michaels School in Omeath. He oversaw the maintenance of the site. He was ably assisted by Johnny O’Sullivan, a local man. Although retired now Johnny maintains a keen interest in the grounds.

02/09/2020

St. Judes Shrine

The prayer group was setup by Lilly Connolly and Margaret.
Over the years many people took a great interest in the shrine and other parts of the site.
These include…
Dympna and Peter Woods, Mai Lynch, Adrian Haughey, Mary McKeown, Brian McKeown, Mary Fagan, Lorcan Murtagh, Lourina Rafferty, Peter Mallon, Seamus Morgan, Mary Toner, Fr Matt Gaffney, Fr David Myers…….. and many more…

02/09/2020

The Nail

This is a replica of the nails used at the crucifixion of Christ.

02/09/2020

The Relic of St. Jude

The relic belongs to the Rosminian Order. The relic was purchased from The Vatican by a generous done from Omeath and given to Peter Mallon for the Calvary Shrine.

02/09/2020

The Graveyard

This is the last resting place of many of the members of the Rosminian Order who were associated with St. Michaels College. It is also the resting place of 2 of the McCreanor Family, Mary and Annie, who donated the House and grounds to the Order. Also interred in the graveyard are the remains of Alice O’Hagan who worked tirelessly for St. Jude’s Shrine.

02/09/2020

Father Gentili Memorial Garden

The Garden contains memorials to many of the people who supported the project over the years. A large white Cross at the northern end of the memorial garden was made by a local man and donated to the site. The fencing of the greenway serves as a protection to the garden.
Unfortunately, the site has reached saturation point and the site is unable to cater for any more memorials.

Address

St Jude Shrine
Omeath

Opening Hours

Monday 9:30am - 9pm
Tuesday 9:30am - 9pm
Wednesday 9:30am - 9pm
Thursday 9:30am - 9pm
Friday 9:30am - 9pm
Saturday 9:30am - 9pm
Sunday 9:30am - 9pm

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