St James’s Church, Cashel

The much needed church in Cashel was begun at the suggestion of a protestant gentleman from Belfast who, from his bedroom window at the Cashel Hotel ( known as the Zetland House Hotel), saw a great bulk of congregation Kneeling bare – headed outside the school opposite during the celebration of a Mass. This man asked Fr Gleeson at breakfast in the hotel why he allowed this state of affairs to continue, “What can I do”? “Where am I going to get the means to build a church here”? “Well, I will give you a start” said the Belfast man and handed him a cheque for a £100. With that, and that alone, in his pocket he commenced the Cashel Church and tells us that many other charitable Protestants afterwards came forward with substantial help towards the church. Years later, when appealing for helping building Recess church, he said that he hoped that visitors there, no matter what religion they professed would imitate the noble example set by visitors to the Cashel hotel.

At the Stations of the Cross, he explained to the people the difficulties involved in building a new church. “The magic of the good PP however attracted crowds of willing hands who approached their work in right good earnest and obstacle after obstacle was surmounted in due course, until the foundation stone was blessed and laid. At that time Cashel had a population of 625 persons. (Courtesy: Fr Conal Eustace, Cashel 30th September 2021)