DIOCESE OF KILMORE
1916 COMMEMORATION AT MASSES IN THE DIOCESE OF KILMORE
The Centenary of the Easter Rising will be marked at Masses in parishes throughout the diocese of Kilmore on Saturday evening and Sunday, 23-24th April. The liturgy will be a special liturgy of remembrance, reflection and prayer to mark the anniversary of the Rebellion which started one hundred years ago on this weekend, 24th April 1916. We will remember and pray for all the men, women and children who died at that time.
Two men who are natives of this diocese were executed in 1916. Francis Sheehy Skeffington, a pacifist and a champion of women’s rights, was born in Bailieborough in 1878. He was not involved in the rebellion but was arrested on Easter Tuesday when trying to prevent looting in the city. He was summarily executed by firing squad on 26 April 1916. Seán MacDiarmada was born in Kiltyclogher in 1883. He was a signatory to the Proclamation and was executed on 12 May 1916. A total of around 485 people, many of them innocent civilians, died during the rebellion. The deaths of all of them are regrettable and this weekend we remember them all in prayer.
Looking back at those events today, we can’t help being struck by the strong Christian faith of the leaders of the rebellion. As well as being fervently religious, some of them were poets and mystics. And while we grieve the loss of life that took place during the Rising, we cannot but admire the values the leaders proposed as the foundation of the new Republic, nor can we dispute their idealism, their vision, their courage and self-sacrifice.
We invite all to take part in the Masses at the weekend to commemorate the 1916 Rebellion and we look forward to marking this important milestone in the history of our nation in a prayerful, dignified and reflective manner.
Leo O’Reilly
Bishop of Kilmore.
