Latest news from Castletown Community
Christmas Carols
On Tuesday 12th December, 2023, the Borris-in-Ossory choir accompanied by Martin Delany, arrived at Miguel House. After a short prayer service in the Community Chapel, all proceeded to the foyer where tea and eats were served and a very entertaining hour followed with lots of Carols and ballads. And Br. George Whyte was one of the lead singers and performers that evening.
Wednesday, 13th December: This time the Emo Choir arrived to entertain the Miguel House Community with more Carols, Ballads, and stories. Two of the lead singers were Br. John Connaughton and Br. George Whyte.
Thursday, 14th December: Bro. Martin Curran and Community invited Brothers Kevin McEvoy, Frank McCallig, Cornelius Carey and Albert O'Driscoll to a Christmas lunch in Miguel House, followed by a sing song accompanied by Billy Dollard. An enjoyable time was had by all.
Novitiate Library in Castletown
For well over a hundred years, lots of books have accumulated in what we call the Novitiate Library. Lots have arrived here on the closure of some Communities and with the refurbishment of the Central Community building, time has come to dispose of some of these. Nothing of notable value will be discarded. Many books of a religious flavour are on our hands at the moment and we were fortunate to have been able to dispose of some of these to Home of the Mother Community who reside in the former Parish Priest's residence in Bunclody. Just before Christmas, Sr. Constancy and Sr. Merciful Love called and took quite a few boxes with them back to Wexford. They intend making use of them in their mission work in Ireland.
Santa Claus
On 19th December, Santa Claus arrived at Miguel House. He had a pronounced Galwegian accent and a mixture of South African sounds. There was great excitement and the place was abuzz with excitement. His reindeer was spotted eating grass on the front lawn and some of the staff were scared stiff to go outside lest he would puck them with his antlers. He didn't delay long and the six mark question now is: Who was Santa?
Storm PIA
She arrived on Thursday, 21st. December and thankfully she did no serious damage. She stayed just one night and cleared off before daybreak back to Scandinavia to join her other sisters Debbie, Elin and Fergus. At daybreak, some of the villagers noticed a number of slates were blown off the main roof facing the village to the left of the big clock. True to his word, Kevin Dollard had his men hard at work and had the damage repaired before breaking up for Christmas holidays. If that wasn't enough, our hot water system suffered a break down on morning of Friday, 21st December. Fortunately, Kieran Fitzpatrick, our plumber, was able to install a new pump. We would really be in hot water all Christmas if the showers were cold.
Storm Gerrit
On 27th December Storm Gerrit came by to make sure there would be no drought in Castletown and gave us more rain than we bargained for. Luckily, no structural damage was done but her sister named Henk passed us by and paid an uninvited visit to Great Britain on 2nd January 2024.
Anointing Fire Catholic Ministries
Anointing Fire Catholic Ministries is a charismatic evangelisation Community of Priests, Sisters and lay missionaries working for the renewal of souls across the world. They come from the Indian Community based in Dublin for the most part. The participants consisted of 40 teenagers and 12 adults. The students came from Belfast, Dublin, Cavan, Kildare, Wicklow, Wexford, Waterford and Cork. They belong to the traditional mould of Catholic practice with Mass, Confessions, Adoration, and Rosary, with quite a lot of hymn singing.
Their Patron here in Ireland is Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford. This group stayed in our Pastoral Centre on 3rd and 4th January. The group's stay was an eye-opener for all of us resident in Castletown. Their level of appreciation was second to none - they were so polite, friendly and very helpful with wash up after meals. They promise to be back later in the year.
ANOIS
This group is from the Diocese of Limerick and have been coming to our Pastoral Centre for quite a number of years. They correspond to the MEITHEAL group that comes for 4 weeks in June every year. They arrive on a Monday afternoon and stay until Friday afternoon. The group leaders consist of 15 who are on the main attending 3rd level institutions and the 40 participants are carefully selected from a number of 2nd level colleges in Limerick.
We have three groups attending over a three week period. These leadership groups are truly inspirational in the serious manner they run the course. The Bishop of Limerick, Dr Brendan Leahy, called round one evening to join the group for evening meal. The colleges these student s represent back in Limerick are so fortunate to have such budding leaders who act as ambassadors for the larger community.
Brigidine Sisters
On Thursday 18th January, five Brigidine Sisters from Tullow in Co. Carlow spent the day holding a meeting in preparation for their Chapter.
Br. Gabriel (George) Whyte RIP
For the past month Br. George was going downhill after a visit to St. James' Hospital in Dublin. He arrived October 2022 from Dublin and he was the life and soul of Miguel House community. He was like a breath of fresh air around the place and won the hearts of all in Castletown.
As everyone knows, he was in his element when it came to singing or attending any sort of social gathering with his songs and party pieces. He had a perpetual smile and was so upbeat and uplifting. He was the lead singer at all our Masses in Miguel House and he loved it. His presence added so much to the Eucharistic celebration.
Someone of the Brothers I met the day he died put it very simply in summarising Brother George: "Impossible to have a row with him". He really was a great ambassador for the Brothers and will be greatly missed by all who knew him. He was a gentle giant. He passed away at 3am On Sunday the 21st January. May he rest in peace.
Visitor
Finally, we were delighted to have had the company of Chris Commins for the past week in our community. We all enjoyed sharing stories of times gone by and many a laugh we had in telling stories of by gone years. We look forward to him returning in March for the launch of his book in Mountmellick. He has spent some summers in Michigan tracing Irish ancestors in the 82 counties that make up Michigan State.