Big day beckons for Laois town as Daniel O'Donnell set to open Community Garden

Daniel and Majella O'Donell will be the special guest in Rathdowney this month when they travels back to the Laois town for the official opening of the new Community Garden on Wednesday, June 28.

The new space for all to enjoy is located at a site which in recent years has been known locally as ‘The Shrine’. This was originally the location of the old Catholic Church begun in 1818. The first Mass was celebrated in the new church on Christmas Day 1820.

 In the early 1950’s the church was replaced by the present Holy Trinity Church. The church at the shrine was demolished. 

Over the years some efforts have been made to develop the area and these included the erection of the statue of Our Lady and the provision of car parking spaces. To mark the bicentenary of the building of the church a local Development Group embarked on a project to develop the Shrine area as an amenity for the entire community. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

The Development Group Connell Breslin Stella Moran Helen Fortune Oliver Kennedy (missing Fr Martin Delaney Brian Phelan).

The project encountered many challenges, obstacles and missed deadlines. Covid 19 scuppered the plans to have it completed for the 200th anniversary of the opening of the original church. 

Despite all the challenges the project is now at a point where the Garden can be opened to the community.  

The Garden was designed by Wexford-based landscape architect, Derek Howlin, and the work was carried out by local contractor, Michael Madden assisted by Kieran O’Dea.

Kieran had also carried out the first phase of the project which involved building a new grotto using the stone originally used in the building of the church back in the late 1800s. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

The garden was developed by Michael Madden and assisted by Kieran O'Dea pictured above. 

In the coming years and as funding streams become available, it's hoped that further work will be carried out to enhance the space.

Catholic Bishop of Ossory Dr Niall Coll will be present but as it's also his first visit to Rathdowney, he will start the day by celebrating Mass at The Church of the Holy Trinity at 11am.  Students and staff of the Scoil Bhride Primary School. After the Mass, Bishop Niall will have an opportunity to meet the young people from Errill and Rathdowney schools who celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation earlier this year.

Proceedings at the Shrine get underway at 2pm when popular local singer Martin Delaney will begin the afternoon’s entertainment.

The Blessing of the Garden will take place shortly after 2.30pm. It will be led by the Catholic and Church of Ireland Bishops of Ossory, Dr Coll and The Right Reverend Adrian Wilkinson. Bishop Coll is a  Donegal native and the  Donegal flavour will continue with the official opening by special guests Daniel and Majella O’Donnell. 

The couple are no strangers to Rathdowney having performed at the first Christmas concert held in Rathdowney Church nine years ago. Daniel has been back for further concerts in Rathdowney over the years and just over three years ago the couple also took part in a Celebrity Cooking Demonstration which was actually a fundraiser for the new Community Garden. 

In late 2022 Daniel included the song ‘Lovely Rathdowney’ on his most recent album. MORE BELOW PICTURE.

Daniel O'Donnell and Fr Martin Delaney pictured during a previous visit to the town.

He later donated a hundred copies of the album as a Christmas fundraiser for the local St. Vincent De Paul group.

Majella has done significant work around Mental Health Awareness. One of the aspects of the new Community Garden in is that it would be a place of quiet reflection. So, on the day, Majella will highlight the value of such reflective spaces for promoting Positive Mental Health.

After the formalities, weather permitting, the musical entertainment will continue with Martin Delaney, the local Parish Choir and possibly Daniel.

One lesser-known fact about Daniel O’Donnell is that he is both a Golf and Bridge player. His visit to Rathdowney will see him play in a Gala Charity Bridge competition at Rathdowney Golf Club.

The entry for this competition is limited to 30 tables so pre-registration is essential. Many of the tables are already booked. To register please text or call  John on 087 2111809 or martin at 086 2444594