A faith-filled First Holy Communion ceremony in Cloghane

This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column.

Michael Commane

If you are a regular reader of this column you must know that I am something of a train buff.

Covid meant I have been away from the iron ways for far too long. My witty friend assures me I’ve been off the rails for too long. How true that is.

On Friday, September 24 I travelled on the 17.05 Heuston Tralee service. While there are seven trains a day, the 17.05 is the only direct service linking Dublin with the Kerry capital.

There is no longer social distancing on public transport and I was surprised to see how busy the train was. Leaving Heuston there was just a handful of empty seats. 

There’s a world of difference between an early morning empty train and a busy Friday evening train. Shortly after Mallow, darkness set in and much of the charm of rail travel is dissipated by the absence of daylight.

We arrived in Tralee at 9pm and my bus to Camp was at 10. An hour is a long time sitting outside a closed bus station. But I managed to be entertained. 

A small number of passengers were attempting to board a bus. It would seem they were intoxicated or else did not have the appropriate ticket or pass to travel. I was impressed with the patience of the bus driver.

Eventually, some 10 minutes late the bus rolled off into the night. It was an interesting cameo to while away the time before my departure time. 

The Dingle bus, a new 211-registered vehicle in the new Transport for Ireland livery, departed two minutes late. Four passengers on the large single-deck bus and two of us getting off at Camp. There are 10 buses a day between Tralee and Dingle. I must admit that is something of a mystery to me.

The weekend in West Kerry was a break from much stress I am currently experiencing, but also to attend a First Holy Communion ceremony in Cloghane, which was all so well done by the community. You can almost see America from Cloghane and that entire neck of the woods is spectacularly beautiful.

There were seven children receiving their First Holy Communion. I baptised one of them and her parents kindly invited me to the Holy Communion ceremony.

The liturgy was part in Irish and part in English. It was a lovely prayerful child-orientated ceremony and it was so impressive to see the work teachers, parents and priest had put into the day.

There was nothing fancy or over-the top about it. I even felt a genuine sense of faith at the ceremony. There was something easy and gentle about it all.

Walking out of the church at the end of Mass I kept saying to myself, I was so happy that I turned up for the day.

I was trying to recall my own First Holy Communion. All I can remember is something remote and serious. 

I hope these seven children will remember theirs. There was a kindness about it all.

I’m wondering is the faith environment in which I received my First Holy Communion any different from that of today. Were people closer to God then than they are now? I doubt it. Might it have been that people behaved in a subservient way towards ministers of religion? And that surely was unhealthy.