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Holy Family Parish

History | Break up of the Parishes | Churches | Priests of the Parish

Brief Parish History & Geographical Location

The Holy Family parish was created in 1970 from an area, which originally formed part of the parish of Donaghmore/Knockea. This area is also known as Southill. The population of the parish is around 5,000.

Break-up of the Parishes

In Medieval Limerick, there were five parishes in Limerick City; St John's, St Mary's, St Michael's, St Munchin's and St Patrick's.

In recent times, the boundaries of these parishes have been altered to form the following parishes:

St Mary's was divided into St Mary's and St Nicholas' (1991).
St Michael's was divided into St Michael's, Our Lady of Lourdes (1963), St Joseph's (1973) and St Saviour's (1973).
St Munchin's was divided into St Munchin's, Our Lady of the Rosary (1964), Christ the King (1970) and Corpus Christi (1976).
St Patrick's was divided into St Patrick's, Monaleen (1971), and Our Lady Help of Christians (1981).
St John's parish has not been altered.
St Paul's was formerly part of the parish of Mungret/Crecora and was created in 1971.
Our Lady Queen of Peace (1961) and Holy Family (1970) were formerly part of the parish of Donaghmore/Knockea.

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Churches

The Holy Family parish church was built in 1970 through the generosity of the priests, sisters, teachers and the people of the parish. The building doubled as a community hall until the church was refurbished between 1990 and 1996 under the supervision of the architect Thomas A. Ryan. Outside, to the left of the church, there is a Marian Shrine.

Over the door on the back right-hand side of the church, there is a stained glass window which depicts (from left to right) the soldiers drawing lots for Jesus' robe, Jesus on the Cross and a soldier. This stained glass window was part of the Good Shepherd Sisters convent, Clare St and dates from around 1931. The window was removed from the convent in 1994. A smaller framed stained glass medallion on the right wall depicts St Michael the Archangel.

A plaque on the right door of the church details where various items of the church originally came from. The Carmelite Sisters in Rathmines donated the Stations of the Cross in 1979. They were made around 1840.

To the right of the high altar is the baptismal font, which has an angel on either side. There is a stained glass medallion to the Holy Family behind the baptismal font. In an alcove near the font, there is a shrine to St Anthony.

Further right of the high altar, there is a small chapel of the Blessed Sacrament. Within the chapel there are Stations of the Cross and a shrine to St Joseph.

In the left porch there is a picture of Pope John Paul II. On the door into the church there are two glass panels on which an angel is depicted on each panel. On the left-hand side of the church, there is a framed stained glass of the Finding in the Temple. There is also a stained glass medallion of the Presentation further along the wall of the church. There is a shrine to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady on the left side of the church.

Along the wall there are three more stained glass medallions of the Nativity, the Visitation and the Annunciation. There are seven of these stained glass medallions in total in the church. They were donated by the Christian Brothers School, Sexton St, Limerick. These medallions were made about 1960 and were removed from their monastery in 1993.

The High Altar and Tabernacle were gifts from Thomas & Harriet O'Brien in honour of the Adorable Sacrament. They were presented to the Sisters of Mercy of Bishop St on the feast of the Assumption, 1880. To the right of the altar, there is a Crucifix. The altar, together with the tabernacle and the statues in the church, was presented to the church in 1996.


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List of Priests

Year Parish Priest Curate(s)
1971 Joseph Shinnors M. Costello
1972 Joseph Shinnors M. Costello
1973 Joseph Shinnors Muiris O’Connor
    Liam Enright
1974 Joseph Shinnors Muiris O’Connor
    Liam Enright
1975 Joseph Shinnors Muiris O’Connor
    Liam Enright
1976 Michael J. Neville Muiris O'Connor
    Liam Enright
1977 Michael J. Neville Muiris O’Connor
    Liam Enright
1978 Michael J. Neville Liam Enright
    Antóin Ó Tuathaigh
1979 Brendan Connellan Antóin Ó Tuathaigh
    Joseph Young
1980 Brendan Connellan Antóin Ó Tuathaigh
    Joseph Young
1981 Brendan Connellan Antóin Ó Tuathaigh
    Joseph Young
1982 Brendan Connellan Antóin Ó Tuathaigh
    Joseph Young
    John Keating
1983 Brendan Connellan Antóin Ó Tuathaigh
    Joseph Young
    John Keating
1984 Brendan Connellan Joseph Young
    John Keating
    Damian Ryan
1985 Brendan Connellan Joseph Young
    John Keating
    Damian Ryan
1986 Joseph Dempsey Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1987 Joseph Dempsey Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1988 Joseph Dempsey Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1989 Joseph Dempsey Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1990 Anthony O’Keeffe Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1991 Anthony O’Keeffe Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1992 Anthony O’Keeffe Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1993 Anthony O’Keeffe Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1994 Anthony O’Keeffe Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1995 Anthony O’Keeffe Damian Ryan
    Joseph Young
1996 Anthony O’Keeffe Joseph Young
    John Walsh
1997 Anthony O’Keeffe Joseph Young
    John Walsh
1998 Thomas Carroll Joseph Young
    John Walsh
1999 Thomas Carroll Joseph Young
    John Walsh
2000 Thomas Carroll Joseph Young
    John Walsh
2001 Thomas Carroll John Walsh
2002 Thomas Carroll John Walsh
2003 Thomas Carroll  
2004 Thomas Carroll  
2005 Thomas Carroll  
2006 Thomas Carroll  
2007 Patrick Hogan  

The list of Priests is compiled from the Catholic Directories. Information contained in a directory of any given year refers to what happened the previous year, For example if a priest is recorded in the 1954 directory as being in a particular parish, this would mean that he was actually there in 1953.

History | Break up of the Parishes | Churches | Priests of the Parish

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