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Brief Parish History & Geographical Location
The parish of Our Lady of Lourdes was created in 1963 when
the area was separated from the then parish of St Michael's. The population
of the parish is about 5,000.
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.
The church of Our Lady of Lourdes was built in 1958/9 and is situated on the
Childers Road. According to the foundation stone, which was laid on February
11 1958 and blessed by Bishop Murphy. Lanigan Bros. built the church and the
architect of the church was Patrick Sheahan.
At the front of the church, there is a statue to Our Lady of Lourdes and to the left of this statue is the foundation stone. There is a depiction of Mary in stained glass on the door into the church.
There is a picture of Pope John Paul II over the door of the church. On the right hand side there is a statue of St Colmcille that was given by Sr. Nora Wall.
On both sides of the church, there are four stained glass windows, which were originally part of the Sisters of Mercy Convent in Bishop St. in the city. Mayer of Munich made the stained glass windows. They were restored by Abbey Stained Glass studios in Dublin when they were transferred into Our Lady of Lourdes church.
On the left-hand side of the church, the stained glass windows include Jesus curing the sick, which was donated by Margaret and Marianne Kelly in memory of their father Michael. The stained glass windows of St Elizabeth and St John the Baptist are in the same panel. The window of St Elizabeth was erected in 1880 to the memory of Mother Mary Elizabeth Moore who was the first Superioress of the Sisters of Mercy convent in Bishop St.
The stained glass window of St John the Baptist is to the memory of Bishop John Ryan who was a benefactor of the Sisters of Mercy convent. Christina Hogan donated the stained glass window of St Joseph to the memory of her husband Hugh. John Neville erected the stained glass window of the Good Shepherd in 1880 in memory of his daughter Sister Mary Liguori who was a Sister in the convent.
The stained glass windows on the right are (from the back) the Visitation, St Patrick and St Brigid, Our Lady of Lourdes and the Sacred Heart. Harriet O'Brien donated the window of the Visitation to the memory of Bishop George Bulter. The window was erected in the convent on February 5 1886. The stained glass windows of St Patrick and St Brigid are in the same panel. The window to St Patrick was erected to the memory of Patrick D Burke by his wife Margaret in 1880. Helena Heffernan was a benefactor of the Sisters of Mercy convent and the stained glass window of St Brigid was erected in her memory.
The stained glass window of Our Lady of Lourdes commemorates the Apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes. It was donated by Margaret and Marianne Kelly. The window was erected on the feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8 1886. John and Brigid Moylan donated the stained glass window of the Sacred Heart to the memory of their sons Michael and William in 1880.
At the top of the church on the left, there is a statue of St Anthony that was originally in the Mercy Convent in Abbeyfeale. There is also a picture of St Bernadette. Further left of the altar there is a statue of Our Lady. A plaque on the statue asks people to pray for PG Collins.
To the right of the altar, there is a statue of St Joseph
and a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. Further right of the main
altar, there is the baptismal font and a statue of the Sacred Heart.
Behind the main altar there is a large crucifix. The presidential chair was originally in the Good Shepherd Convent in Clare St in Limerick City.
Also in the parish in the townland of Rossbrien is the site of St Dominic's church. No remains of the church building exist today but it was probably situated within the enclosure where the graveyard is still located.
According to Danaher, a convent under the patronage of Lord Inchiquin was located in this area. Spellissy states that this land belonged to the Augustinian nuns at one stage and it may be possible that the church once located here was the church of that convent.
About a half a mile north east of the graveyard under some
undergrowth, there is a small section of wall about 10 foot long and 7 foot
high that is covered in ivy. This may also have been part of the convent that
was situated on these lands. From St Dominic's well it is easy to reach the
site. When you reach the well, turn in a north-easterly direction and follow
the roadway as far as it goes.
There is a graveyard about a quarter of a mile south of St Dominic's well. Trees and a wire fence surround the graveyard. The graveyard was closed for burials in the second half of the nineteenth century. However, it was still used as a children's burial ground until the 1960s.
There are a number of legible headstones in the graveyard.
The oldest headstone that we found was to the memory of John Mulcahy who died
on January 10 1838 at the age of 7.
Holy Wells
St Dominic's well is situated in Rossbrien on land owned by Shannon Development.
The well is about four feet deep and has steps leading down to it. According
to Seán Spellissy, the original name of the well may have been a corruption
of Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh or 'the well of the King of Sunday'.
It is believed that Tobar Rí an Domhnaigh
may have been a corruption of St Modhomhnoc. However, there was two saints
of this name and their feastday fall on February 13 and May 18 respectively.
There are no devotions at the well nowadays. Although it is partially overgrown,
there is still water in the well. The water was believed to cure eye ailments.
One legend about the well is that a travelling showman washed a bear in the
well and it dried up.
| Year | Parish Priest | Curate(s) |
| 1964 | James Culhane | Francis Moriarty |
| 1965 | James Culhane | Liam Kelly |
| 1966 | James Culhane | Liam Kelly |
| 1967 | James Culhane | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1968 | James Culhane | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1969 | James Culhane | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1970 | James Culhane | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1971 | Martin O’Donnell | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1972 | Martin O’Donnell | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1973 | Martin O’Donnell | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1974 | Martin O’Donnell | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1975 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Joseph Dempsey | ||
| 1976 | Daniel Murphy | Michael Irwin |
| P. J. O'Donnell | ||
| 1977 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Michael Irwin | ||
| 1978 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Michael Irwin | ||
| 1979 | Daniel Murphy | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Laurence Madden | ||
| 1980 | James Galvin | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Laurence Madden | ||
| 1981 | James Galvin | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Laurence Madden | ||
| 1982 | James Galvin | Patrick J. O’Donnell |
| Laurence Madden | ||
| 1983 | James Galvin | Laurence Madden |
| Anthony Kelleher | ||
| 1984 | James Galvin | Laurence Madden |
| Anthony Kelleher | ||
| 1985 | James Galvin | Laurence Madden |
| Anthony Kelleher | ||
| 1986 | David Browne | Anthony Kelleher |
| Noel Kirwan | ||
| 1987 | David Browne | Noel Kirwan |
| Thomas Scanlon | ||
| 1988 | David Browne | Noel Kirwin |
| Thomas Scanlon | ||
| 1989 | David Browne | Noel Kirwan |
| Thomas Scanlon | ||
| 1990 | David Browne | Noel Kirwan |
| 1991 | David Browne | Noel Kirwan |
| 1992 | Donough O’Malley (Adm.) | Noel Kirwan |
| 1993 | Donough O’Malley (Adm.) | Noel Kirwan |
| 1994 | Donough O’Malley | Noel Kirwan |
| 1995 | Donough O’Malley | Noel Kirwan |
| 1996 | Donough O’Malley | Joseph Foley |
| 1997 | Donough O’Malley | Joseph Foley |
| 1998 | Donough O’Malley | Patrick Seaver |
| 1999 | Donough O’Malley | Patrick Seaver |
| 2000 | Donough O’Malley | Patrick Seaver |
| 2001 | Donough O’Malley | Patrick Seaver |
| 2002 | Donough A.O’Malley | Patrick Seaver |
| 2003 | Damian Ryan | Patrick Seaver |
| 2004 | Damian Ryan | Patrick Seaver |
| 2005 | Damian Ryan | Patrick Seaver |
| 2006 | Damian Ryan | Patrick Seaver |
| 2007 | Damian Ryan | Patrick Seaver |
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 | Graveyards | Holy Wells | Priests of the Parish
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