Church Reopening
Public worship will resume on this Monday 10th May with morning Mass at 9.45am. The announcement by the Taoiseach recently provides clarity in relation to the return of public worship. The arrangements will be the same as when we were open prior to Christmas. This means that the "pods" system will apply.
Mass
Our parish church has three distinct sections (pods) - the gallery; the seats on the right side of the main body of the church and the seats on the left side of the main body of the church. Each pod is allowed to have a maximum of 50 people, once the guidelines are adhered to. So our church has capacity for 150 people at any one Mass.
The following guidelines are in place and are given so as to help keep everyone safe.
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You should wear a face covering in the church.
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Please use the hand sanitisers that are available in the church porches.
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It is important to observe social distancing at all times – in approaching and leaving the church and in the church building. It is especially important not the congregate outside the church after Mass.
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Special arrangements for Holy Communion, so that there is no movement between sections (pods)
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Holy Communion should be received in the hand.
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Parishioners must enter and leave the church by the designated doors.
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The church will be sanitised and ventilated on a regular basis.
Streaming of Masses
We will discontinue the streaming of the week day Masses but continue to stream the11.00am Mass on Sundays.
Funerals
The number at funerals Masses is capped at 50 regardless of the size of the church. Funeral Masses will continue to be live streamed.
The guidelines state:
“There is an increased risk of transmission of the virus where families and communities come together following the death of a loved one. Therefore, numbers at funeral services is capped at 50 regardless of size of premises. Notwithstanding the increase in numbers permitted, funerals are still considered private family events and all notices in newspapers or on-line should be clear about this. Funeral services should continue to be live-streamed to help reduce numbers attending. Attendance at wakes in private homes and at Funeral Homes remains unchanged i.e. immediate family only and people should be discouraged from queuing to pay respects”.
Weddings
50 guests are permitted to attend a wedding ceremony in the church, regardless of the size of the church.
Baptisms
Baptisms will resume on Saturday 15th May. Each family can bring a maximum of 10 people and there will be a number of baptismal ceremonies on the same Saturday in an effort to accommodate those who could not have baptisms because of the restrictions to date.
In the immediate future, there will be baptisms held on 15th , 22nd , 29th May and 5th June.
Eucharistic Adoration
Eucharistic Adoration will revert to the usual day Wednesday beginning after the morning Mass and ending at 7.00pm. (Please note the change of the finishing time)
Parish Office
The Parish Office will reopen in the week beginning 10th May.
If the phone is unattended please leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as we can.