The celebrations for the Feast of St. Patrick began with the traditional Blessing of the Shamrock in the Jubilee Garden of SS John & Paul Church before the 10am Mass. Members of the 22nd Battalion Association provided military honours at Mass. Fr Francis Xavier celebrated his first St Patrick’s Day in Ireland at the 11am Mass. At Mass we met St Patrick himself in the person of Pat Fitzgerald from O’Brien Park who was celebrating his 60th birthday.
Fr Francis Xavier gave Pat a Blessing for the day. Fr. Arnold celebrated the last Mass of the day at 12.15pm in both Irish and English. In the afternoon the celebrations moved to the Town Centre for the parade. Our thanks to Michelle Justice & Joe Buckley for photos.
