Kells church continues to celebrate Jubilee

The celebrations to mark the golden jubilee of a County Meath church continue in earnest in the Royal County. 

To mark the 50th anniversary of Saint Colmcille’s Church in Kells, the local musical society has planned a number of special events for the remainder of the year.  Chief among these is on Wednesday July 28 when Mathew Gilsenan of the Celtic Tenors, Simon Casey from You're A Star, Fr Ray Kelly from the local musical society, and many more guests, will put on a special concert in the church. 

The jubilee celebrations continue with a week-long parish mission that will be conducted by the Redemptorists, beginning on September 25 and concluding on October 2 with a special jubilee party in the local Headford Arms Hotel. 

The Bishop of Meath Bishop Michael Smith will say a special jubilee mass for the parish in October and there are plans to host a jubilee photographic exhibition in the church entitled A Stroll Down Memory Lane in October. 

The jubilee celebrations have been going on all year and so far have included talks by the retired Governor of Mountjoy, John Lonergan, as well as Bobby Smith and Garret Phelan from the HSE. 

There was a special passion play on Good Friday and a special mass for Leaving Certificate students, in conjunction with the Dublin Choral Foundation, in May. 

The church of Saint Colmcille was dedicated on October 23 1960 by the then Bishop of Meath, Bishop John Kyne. 

At the time, the building cost €130,000.

by Sean Ryan