THE IMPORTANCE of preserving rural communities in Ireland, “which are sadly becoming more and more endangered,” was stressed by his Lordship, Most Rev. Dr. Edward Daly, during Sunday’s Solemn blessing and formal opening of Broughderg’s new Church. His Lordship described the opening of the Church of Our Lady of the Wayside as an “act of faith in rural life in Ireland,” and expressed the hope that more people would come back and make their homes in the area. The Blessing and Dedication of the Church – believed to be the second smallest in the Diocese – was indeed a day of great joy and celebration for Greencastle parishioners, who turned out in their hundreds led by their Parish Priest Fr. Seamus Shields. It was their energetic pastor’s fervent devotion to Our Lady of the Wayside that saw the birth of this beautiful shrine, built at the foothills of the Sperrins. As Fr. Shields told the overflowing congregation, he was involved in a serious accident many years ago and owed his life to the fact that Our Lady of the Wayside summoned an ambulance to the scene in time to get him to hospital for urgent medical attention. So huge was the crowd at Sunday’s ceremonies that a large marquee had to be erected in the grounds of the Church to accommodate the overflow parishioners who all wished to personally witness and experience the historic occasion. Every family in the parish was represented as well as six families from the neighbouring Archdiocese of Armagh, who were joined by Right Rev. Monsignor Patrick McLarnon, the Vicar-General of the Archdiocese. The six families attend Broughderg Church because it was more convenient than their own parish Church. But for Fr. Shields and many parishioners the opening was also an occasion tinged with sadness. For earlier that morning they celebrated Mass for the last time in the century old St. Mary’s Church, a short distance away. That Church, which was dedicated 100 years ago this year, was a building which had served the community well and which was built at a time of great poverty and deprivation. Its foundation stone, which was laid on 18^th May, 1877 and dedicated on 25^th July, 1885, has been placed on the wall at the back of the new Church, in memory of the Rev. P. McKeown, who was then Parish Priest. Sunday’s ceremonies took place on a blustery day, but fortunately the rain kept away as people filled into the Church, which was full even half an hour before the ceremonies commenced. Outside the keys of the Church were handed over to the Bishop by Mr. Bernard McGuigan, Broughderg, who donated the site free of charge. The unlocking of the Church door was then proudly performed by an elated Fr. Shields. Mrs. Josephine Clarke read the first lesson, Mr. Pat Coyle the second, and soloists during the ceremony were Misses Maria O’Neill, Martina Daly and Mrs Patricia Loughran.

In his homily, Most Rev. Dr. Daly said the new Church replaced the old St. Mary’s Church a short distance away which was dedicated 100 years ago – “a building which has served this community well, a building which was built at a time of great poverty and deprivation. “At that time, this area had a relatively large population – estimated to be about 2,500. the Catholic population of Greencastle parish in 1904 (the earliest year for which we have reliable diocesan records) was 1,940 – ten years later, in 1914 the population was 1,764 – in 1977 the Catholic population of the parish was less than 950 and today it is just over 1,000. Please God this new upward trend of population will continue. When the work which has been done in this parish over the past 10 years is taken into consideration and related to the total Catholic population here, it is quite a remarkable achievement by any standard. “I wish therefore, to express my sincere thanks and congratulations to the people of the parish of Greencastle and to the Parish Priest, Fr. Seamus Shields, on the construction and opening of this beautiful Church dedicated to Our Lady of the Wayside here in Broughderg. I express my very sincere thanks and deep appreciation to Mr. Barney McGuigan, who donated the site free of charge. “I congratulate the architects, the design team, artists, and contractors and workers involved. I thank all of those in this parish and elsewhere who were so generous in making the construction of this Church possible. “The Church is in a beautiful location nestling here among the foothills of the Sperrins. I hope that more people will chose to come back to live and make their homes in this area. “The planning policies of successive governments here up until a few years ago militated against rural areas in a cruel and disastrous manner, especially in the granting of planning permission for the building of new houses. As a direct result, the population in the countryside was reduced to a drastic extent. Subsequently schools, Churches, and other community facilities became difficult and sometimes impossible to sustain and maintain. Schools, Churches and community facilities have been disappearing in many parts of rural Ireland as a result.

In his special sermon Fr. McCullagh said: “From the dawn of history man has ceaselessly tried to find the meaning and purpose of life on this earth. Life for any man or woman was fragile, flimsy and fleeting. There was always hope at birth but living left its scars and, even when love overcame life’s setbacks, its joys were lost one day in the sorrow of parting. The earth is full of the graves of mankind marked by stones carved in sentences as short as life itself. Here on this mountain men left clues to their searching in the Beaghmore Stone Circles, but the puzzle remained. With the coming of Patrick to Ireland came the news of Jesus Christ, the Messiah who spoke of a way through the complexities of birth, death, joy and pain, love and resentment. To a people on a sun-drenched land, far away from the mist and rains of the Sperrins, he said simply: ‘I am the Way.’ Not that he would point out or show the way – he was the Way and for centuries on these foothills men and women who braved the wind-swept winters and scraped small harvests from ungenerous land, found in Jesus Christ purpose in their pain, sense in their suffering and peace in their perplexity. In 1885 they found themselves at the turning point in Irish history. It was the time of Parnell and the Irish home rule party holding the balance of power at Westminster, but the events were of little significance to the people who came back here to see the completion of their Church in that summer. They had experienced the famine years, a far greater recession than anything we talk about. They had watched their sons and daughters take the horse to the emigrant boats in search of a new life across the Atlantic. Many who left here didn’t survive the journey or if they did, they never saw these mountains of home again. So the July day when they gathered for Mass in their own house of prayer, they declared their unshakable faith in Jesus Christ who was the Way, and turned to Him in prayer, some in English, many in the native language of their ancestors. Down the years since Broughderg Church has seen the family history of its people unfold. It has seen the children of its baptismal font grow in grace ….. – some to stay, others to emigrate, some to … the family at home, others to carry the Gospel of Christ to the missions abroad. It has seen marriage honoured in the face of wealth and poverty, in sickness and in health, in the bits and pieces of every day. It has seen its people coming to bring their pain or their brokenness to God from mothers for sons and daughters in exile, for those who were sources of joy and especially for those who turned out to be a disappointment. It has watched the silent, unobtrusive faith of its menfolk who knew better than anyone else what trust could be put in the shepherd. It has seen the muted sorrow of its people in the Requiem Masses and it goes on casting its shadow over their graves in the gentle earth. It, too, like people, grew old and age left irreparable scars and so within sight of that hallowed place, today you gathered to mark the opening of this Church where God will continue to receive your worship and praise.