This article is from page 82 of the 2008-10-21 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 82 JPG
MEMBERS of the Ballyea Pastoral Council can reflect with a good de- gree of pride on a job well done at Killone Abbey.
The abbey and the surrounding grounds will hopefully provide the perfect setting for a mass to be cel- ebrated in the future by the local community.
A major clean-up opperation was undertaken by the pastoral council in cleaning up the site and improv- Tb NTear Neon
The restoration project was under- taken by a small group of local peo- ple who were keen to again make a place of holy and historical signifi- cance, a source of pride in the com-
munity.
Rosemary Meaney, Chairperson of the Ballyea Pastoral Council ex- plained that there was great support for the project.
“It has been years since there was a mass held in Killone. The work has been on-going there for many years, clearing it up and making sure ac- cess to the abbey was improved con- siderably. It is a beautiful place and it was very special to be able to hold a mass there.”
One of the key areas the council concentrated on was cleaning and cataloguing the headstones in the nearby graveyard.
For this, they received support from the Clare Roots Society. Thanks to that help, much of the informa-
tion gleamed from the headstones, will soon be available to access on the Clare library’s popular website. There is still some work to be done, though, and Rosemary is hoping that volunteers will come on board for the final push.
“Cleaning the headstones was a big part of the project. The Clare Roots Society are going to come down to record all the headstones and give all the information to the library.
“There is a lot of information there that people, particularly doing fam- ily history, things like that, would find very useful. There is still a lot of work to do.”
Rosemary said that the council has applied for a grant from the Heritage Ireland so the work at Killone Abbey
can continue.
Killone Abbey is located on the grounds of Newhall house. Among the other structures located nearby is St John’s well, once a place of pil- grimage for people in Clarecastle and Eire Og.
According to the Rocky Road, written by local man Paddy Brennan, The foundation of Killone Abbey is said to have been around 1189, but it may actually be older. Founded as a nunnery, the abbey provided many services to the surrounding commu- IATA
“It is a great thing to be able to see the abbey in good condition and to see people visiting. We want to keep the place alive. It’s a gorgeous place, very spiritual’, added Rosemary.