Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly: Annual Pilgrimage Takes Place on Sunday, August 4th

Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly

Diocesan Pilgrimage to Knock Shrine

Sunday, August 4th 2024

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cashel & Emly in mid-western Ireland is in the province of Munster.   The Patron Saint of the Archdiocese is St. Ailbe whose Feast Day falls on 12 September. It consists of 46 parishes across much of County Tipperary and part of County Limerick.

The Cathedral of the Assumption is located in Thurles, and stands on the site of earlier chapels, including the “Big Chapel” built in 1810.  Soon after his appointment as Archbishop in 1857, Dr. Patrick Leahy revealed his plan to replace the Big Chapel with “a Cathedral worthy of the archdiocese”.  Building commenced in 1865, and the impressive Romanesque Cathedral with its facade modelled on that of Pisa, was consecrated by Archbishop Croke on 21 June 1879.  The Cathedral was extensively renovated and the sanctuary sympathetically remodeled on the occasion of its centenary in 1979. The most recent extensive conservation and renewal of the Cathedral, during 2001-2003, has restored the building to its original splendour.

Also located in the Archdiocese is the famous Holycross Abbey, a Cistercian monastery so lovingly restored from a roofless ruin, in 1969-75 which will celebrate the Golden Jubilee of its reopening as a Parish church and place of Pilgrimage in October of 2025.  A relic of the true cross can be found in Holycross Abbey.

The ecclesiastical heritage of Ireland is celebrated in Knock Basilica, where all  four provinces of Ireland are represented by windows from ancient abbeys.

The impressive window of the Abbey has been replicated in Knock Basilica, representing the Province of Munster.

It was in the archdiocese too that in March 1980, the famous Derrynaflan Hoard was found in the Parish of Killenaule & Moyglass, on Derrynaflan Island approximately 12km SE of Thurles.  The items found form part of the rich history of ecclesiastical vessels of Ireland of that period.

The world famous Rock of Cashel, where the original Cathedral of Cashel diocese was located, forms an important suite of ecclesiastical buildings overlooking the town and is one of Irelands National monuments.

Schedule of Ceremonies

2.30pm: Anointing of the Sick in Knock Basilica

3pm: Concelebrated Mass

Chief Celebrant and Homilist:

Most Rev. Kieran O’Reilly DD,

Archbishop of Cashel & Emly

Choir: Cashel & Emly Diocesan Choir

Mass will be followed by an outdoor Rosary procession, weather permitting