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The History ofReligious & Cultural

Integration in Drogheda

The History of Religious and Cultural Integration in Drogheda

The History of Religions in Drogheda and their Institutions - an introduction to organised religion and institutions in Drogheda from medieval times to the present.

HORCID - History of Religious and Cultural Integration in Drogheda.A PEACE III Programme 2007-2013, supported by the Small Grants Fund for Co. Louth.

he Drogheda Civic Trust was established in 2010 with the aim of celebrating the heritage and culture of the town of Drogheda. Among the projects recently undertaken by the Civic Trust are the production of a calendar to mark to 600th anniversary of Drogheda and the renovation of the Cord Cemetery.

This publication on the history of religious and cultural integration in Drogheda is a significant contribution to the under-standing of the diversity of the people of Drogheda and the practices of faith in the town. The publication is in two parts: the history of religion in Drogheda from the 12th century to the present time and a con-temporary description of the diverse range of religion and faiths and congregations that currently exist in Drogheda.

The importance of the practice of religion in Drogheda is evident from the abundance of churches with church spires dominating the skyline of the town. The history of the religious denominations of the town from the 12th century to the current day are told here. However, what is of enormous inter-est is the diversity of religions and congre-gations that currently exist in Drogheda. Largely resulting from the inward migration of people over the past decade we now have a diversity of people that never before existed in Drogheda and when they came to Drogheda they also brought with them a diversity of faith.

The project was made possible by the fund-ing provided by EU PEACE III programme 2007-2013 supported by the Small Grants Fund for County Louth.

I would like to gratefully acknowledge this funding. I would also like to acknowledge Sean Collins for his work on the history of religions in Drogheda and An Lú Cuimhní for their work on recording the contempo-rary religious congregations in Drogheda.

Denis CumminsChairman, Drogheda Civic Trust

Foreword

History of Religious & Cultural Integration in Drogheda


he first section of this study provides an historic overview of religious denominations in Drogheda over the eight centuries of the town’s development. All denominations on record in Drogheda are included here. It is not intended to be a definitive history, but an attempt to give a broad picture of how the citizens of Drogheda with their varied beliefs and practices have lived side by side and developed as communities over eight hundred years.

The town of Drogheda is a busy modern town with a varied and long history set astride the River Boyne. Drogheda traditionally provided port access for trade to Britain and the continent, and an opening westward into the rich fertile lands of Co.Meath. It provides access on the Dublin to Belfast corridor across the River Boyne. Drogheda, when first established, had developed as two towns, one on either side of the River Boyne. At the request of the townspeople, in 1412 by Royal Char-ter the two towns were amalgamated into one.

Following the unification of Drogheda, the town became even more important in the affairs of medieval Ireland. Parliaments were held here on a number of occasions in the 1400s. It was at one such parliament that “Poynings Law” was passed in 1492, and was not repealed until 1782.

Throughout the seventeenth century Drogheda was on

the cusp of many of the major events of Irish history. The Great O’Neill signed the Treaty of Mellifont at the nearby house of the O’Moores, the Earls of Drogheda. During the Confederate Rebellion the town was besieged in 1642, and again in 1649 by Oliver Cromwell. The Battle of The Boyne in 1690, was fought four miles west of the town. This Battle forever changed the political face of Ireland. In the 18th and 19th centuries the town developed industrially and this paved the way for the fine modern town that exists here today.

While rich in history and modern developments in industry, retail and commerce, Drogheda also has a plenitude of churches and religious institutions. The purpose of this study is to look at how various religions have developed in Drogheda down through the centuries, and to give a historical background to the development of the various houses of worship.

Introduction.Drogheda pictured from Millmount

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he town of Drogheda was first established by the Anglo- Normans in the late 12th century. [Bradley 1978] The Norman Conquest of Ireland from 1170 onwards was characterised by the development of towns all along the east coast of Ireland. This area of development came to be identified as the Pale, and Drogheda was part of this development.

The town of Drogheda which has a rich and varied history, was established in the even more ancient and historic Boyne Valley, which is the home of some of the earliest identified settlers in Ireland. The great funerary monuments of Dowth, Knowth and Newgrange remain as physical evidence of their existence in the Irish landscape since 4,000 B.C. [Herity and Eogan 1977]

St.Patrick is said to have arrived in Ireland on his crusade to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity in 432 A.D. He heralded a golden era of Christianity and learning, which saw the establishment of the first Christian communities or early monasteries on the Irish land-scape. The locally born St. Buite or Boice established a monastery about four miles north of the site of the town of Drogheda in the late 6th Century. This monastery stayed in place until the arrival of the Cistercian Order at Mellifont in 1140. The Monastery estab-lished by Boice, or Monasterboice as it had been named, ceased to function as a monastery and the re-maining monks moved to Mellifont to follow the Cistercian rule. [King 1994]

Early Settlement

Mellifont Abbey, Monasterboice.

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n 1152 a synod of the leading churchmen of Ireland was convened at Kells in Co.Meath. However, as most of the business of the synod was carried out at Mellifont, it came to be known as the Kells / Mellifont Synod. This Synod decreed that henceforth Ireland would be divided into thirty-six sees or diocese, with four metropoli-tan sees at Armagh, Cashel, Tuam and Dublin. The primacy of the metropolitan sees was granted to Armagh.

The River Boyne was identified as the natural border between the diocese of Armagh and Meath. The Anglo-Normans when building Drogheda on the banks of the Boyne had established a town which would come to be in both the dioceses of Armagh and Meath. St Peter’s Parish on the north side of Drogheda was established in the Diocese of Armagh, and St Mary’s Parish on the south side of the town was established in the diocese of Meath. Hence Drogheda began to develop as two towns with two parishes and two dioceses.

Religious Structure

St Peter’s Catholic Church.

St. Peter’s Catholic Church across the garden of the Presentation Convent.

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rom the late 12th Century onwards the development of Drogheda by the Normans included the building of monasteries. The mendicant orders of friars, such as the Dominicans, Franciscans and Augustinians, were sustained by the support of generous benefactors, which included royalty, nobility and the wealthy. Their arrival in Drogheda would have a long lasting impact on Drogheda town and its religious structures.

Religious establishments that were in existence prior to the arrival of the mendicant orders are identified by Gwynn and Hancock. From their research we know that from 1188, Christian Clergy served regular canons in the churches established in both the parishes of St.Peter’s and St.Mary’s. Also, the current site of St.Peter’s Church of Ireland on Peter St. Drogheda is most likely the earliest site of Christian worship in the town. [Bradley 1997] It was later used as the pro-cathedral of the dioceses of Armagh, where Bishops were consecrated and the ecclesiastical courts were held.

In the early 13th century the Fratres Cruciferi, a military order of Hospi-tallers were noted in St. Mary Durso 1206, located at what is now known as The Old Abbey in Drogheda. They also established the friary of St. Laurence 1202-03 in the grounds of the Cord Cemetery, and a hospital of St. John The Baptist in 1216 on the south side of the town. A leper hospital titled St. Mary Magdalen is noted in 1202 on the north side of the town and a hospital of St. James

is referred to in a deed of 1302 on the site of the Scotch Hall develop-ment in Drogheda. There are some suggestions that the Benedictines also had a presence in the area prior to 1171. [Gwynn and Hadcock 1970]

It was during the 13th century that the mendicant orders were to bring a new structure to the religious world of Ireland. The mendicants were established in Drogheda from the following dates;

Dominicans 1224Franciscans 1240Carmelites 1272Augustinians 1295

The mendicant orders made a largely positive impact on the development of the medieval town of Drogheda. Their friaries, while addressing the religious needs of Drogheda townspeople also provided schools where music, art, and general education were taught. Some of these friaries provided medical services, albeit primitive, and also provided aid in times of plague and famine. The monks studied farming

methods and are credited with in-troducing systematic agriculture and estate management to the region. These developments continued up until the suppression of the mon-asteries under Henry VIII in 1535. [Duffner 1979]

Religious Development in Medieval Drogheda

�e current St. Peter’s Church of Ireland, the most likely site of the earliest site of Christain worship in Drogheda.

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he Suppression of the monasteries occurred as part of the English Reformation under Henry VIII in 1535. Parish churches in Drogheda and elsewhere were taken over by the adherents of the new faith, Protestantism, and thence Catholics were left without a place to worship. There is no record to suggest where Catholics may have held religious services during this time.

The Mayor of Drogheda, Stephen Duff in 1603, responding to a query from the Lord Deputy of Ireland, denied that mass was being celebrated in the town. Oliver Plunkett writing in 1673, describes how in Drogheda, there existed several beautiful and orna-mented chapels but no parish church. Throughout this period of religious persecution in Drogheda the various orders of friars managed to keep a presence here, the Franciscans and the Augustinians have extant records for this period, but it would seem according to Plunkett, that there was no Diocesan base or Parish church.

However, in later writings on the 26th September 1671 Oliver Plunkett states the following;“In the wealthy and most noble city of my diocese and of the whole province, there are three chapels, very beautiful and ornamented; the first belongs to the Capuchins, the second to the reformed Franciscans, the third to the Jesuits. There is also one belonging to the Augustinians but it is rather poor. The city to which I allude is called Drogheda, at five hours distance from Dublin; it is next to Dublin, the best city in Ireland”.It therefore appears that within one hundred years of the Suppression of the monasteries, Catholics now had re-established an abundance of places to worship. During this time in 1670, Oliver Plunkett also opened a school in Drogheda which provided education for 150 boys and was run by the Jesuit order. It was noted to have forty Protestant boys as pupils who also received education there. [Moran 1895] This school which was situated on Shop St. according to Canon Carolan writing in 1907, was closed by the authorities in 1673. An era of Suppression of religious faiths was to occur again in Ireland in the mid 1600s.

After the Cromwellian Siege of Drogheda in 1649, Presbyterianism began to emerge as the new doctrine. According to Bill McIllreavy, the first Presbyterian congregation was noted here in 1650. This is attributed to have come about as a legacy of the Cromwellian garrison established in Drogheda. The first Presbyteri-an Minister to be appointed was named Revd. Jenner and services were conducted in the homes of appointed Presbyterian members.

In the aftermath of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, both the Catholic community and the dissenting Protestants or Presbyterians community, as they came to be known, experienced the wrath of the Penal laws. These were introduced by William III, or William of Orange, as he is better known. William III, of whom the traditional ballad ‘The Boyne Water’ says gave us our “rights, religion and laws”, made Ireland a very unwelcoming place for members of any faith outside of his established Anglican Church. In this new-found era of “religious freedom”, both Catholic priests and Presbyterian Ministers were persecuted for their beliefs, whilst during the Cromwellian Siege of Drogheda in 1649, a number of Catholic priests were executed. Fifty years later, under William III of Orange even a Presbyterian minister named Biggs was sent to prison for three months for preaching a sermon. In the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 William of Orange writing from his camp at Duleek, sacked the Stuart-supporting Corporation of Drogheda and appointed a membership from among his supporters, forming a new and loyal Drogheda Corporation.

Reformation and SuppressionT

he mid 1700s seems to have heralded a greater tolerance in Ireland of religious diversity. In Galway, The Mayor reported that although the sheriffs had raided a reputed Augustinian friary, they could find no evidence of friars practicing there. A note in the Augustinian daybook from that time highlights the following, “Nov 9th…a bottle of wine for ye sheriffs” [Duffner1979]. This may be just one example of how perhaps people were turning a “blind eye” to authority and official religious constraints.

In Drogheda St. Peter’s Catholic Parish had become much more organised and proper parish records were established and extant here from 1744. Also a place was provided on John St. in 1763 for Catholics in St. Mary’s Parish to worship. [McCullen 1984] A new Catholic church was opened on West St. in Drogheda in 1793. Ravels Map of Drogheda of 1749 shows a Roman Catholic chapel yard outside of Westgate, which may suggest the presence of a parish church. Also just across the road from this yard at Mill Lane, The Dominicans had established a chapel, and the Cistercians had established an oratory at Mell.

In 1770 Methodism is first noted in Drogheda; however the Church on Laurence Street was not built until 1811. The Augustinians had already built the Chapel of St. Monica on Shop St. in 1780, and the Franciscans had taken a lease on premises in Laurence Street in 1801. It appears at this time that all religions could work together whatever political constraints they may have been placed under.

This may be illustrated by the following co-operation shown between communities in Drogheda in 1826. In order to ease the burden of the large congregation in the Parish Church of St Peter’s Church of Ireland, a chapel of ease was being prepared on Fair Street in Drogheda. During this time in the Drogheda Journal of 1826, the Methodist community was noted to have aided this process as follows:

“We understand that Divine Service will be performed in the Methodist chapel, Laurence Street every Sunday

morning at quarter past twelve, and evening service in the Tholsel at half past six o clock. The Methodists of this town have most kindly lent their chapel for Divine Worship to the Rev. John Smyth, until the chapel of ease is built”.

It appears that the Methodist community had forgiven the Protestant Corporation and community for once having jailed their preacher. A new St. Peter’s Church of Ireland was constructed on St. Peter’s Hill in 1752. The Siena Convent opened on the Cord Road in 1792. Throughout the 1800s a church building programme continued.

In all, ten houses of worship of Christian denomination were commenced during this time;

1810 - St.Mary’s Church of Ireland, Mary St.1811 - Methodist Church, Laurence St.1820 - St. Mary’s Church, James St. (first chapel on site)1827 - St. Mark’s Chapel of Ease, Fair St.1827 - Presbyterian Church, Palace St.1829 - Franciscan Church, Laurence St.1859 - Augustinian Church, Shop St.1870 - Dominican Church, Wellington Quay.1881 - St.Mary’s Roman Catholic Parish Church, James St. (new Church)1884 - St.Peter’s Roman Catholic Parish Church, West St.

Revival of FortunesT



Added to this, The Mercy Sisters, the Presentation Sisters and the Daughters of Charity established schools and convents in the town during this time. The Patrician Brothers also started a school at West Gate, which was taken over by the Christian brothers in 1859.

In the closing years of the 1700s despite the Penal Laws, almost 90% of the population of Ireland was still Catholic. The population of Drogheda reflected this national average and Catholics in the town attended mass at the Highlane (with the Franciscan Order), the Low Lane (the Augustinian Order), the Linen Hall (the Dominican Order), and the new St. Peter’s Parish Church on West St. While churches were pro-viding mass services on a daily basis, an outwardly low profile was being maintained and churches were identified euphemistically by their street names, for example the Highlane, or the Low Lane.

During this time on the Irish political landscape the Catholic Committee had been established on a national basis, and their objective was to seek emancipation for Catholics. A Petition for the Catholics of Ireland was produced in 1793 and three Drogheda Catholic merchants named James Bird, Roger Hamill, and Gerard Dillon were signatories of this petition. A young Kildare barrister named Theobald Wolfe Tone was appointed as agent for the Catholic Committee.

His appointment to this role came about as a result of his successful defence of the three Drogheda Catholic Committee activists in the Courts of Law. This was the road to emancipation.

St. Mary’s Sunday School, situated on Mary Street, opposite the Church of Ireland. Built in 1879 by �omas Plunket Cairnes.

Built in 1810 - St. Mary’s Church of Ireland, Mary Street.

“Daniel O’Connell emerged as the liberator of Ireland in the 1840s, not because he liberated Ireland from England, (he did not) but because he liberated the great mass of Irish people from their irrelevance on the political scene”[Foster 1989].

aniel O’Connell campaigned for and secured Catholic emancipation in the 1820s. As a result of the passing of the Emancipation Act in 1829, Catholics could now participate fully in parliament and local government and also could be elected to high office from which they had been excluded under the Penal Laws. O’Connell was feted on many occasions in Drogheda, where he enjoyed total support among the Catholic community. Emancipation was secured in 1837 and one of its legacies, the Municipal Reform Act of 1843, saw Drogheda lose its County status. Up until this time Drogheda had been titled the “County of the Town of Drogheda”, but now it came to be part of Co. Louth.

However, on a more positive note, Drogheda could now elect a Catholic Mayor for the first time since the era leading up to the introduction of the Penal Laws. John Dalton writing in his History of Drogheda 1843 sets the scene thus;

“Tuesday, the first of November, being the day fixed upon by the Municipal Act for the election and swearing in of the first Mayor of the Reformed Corporation of Drogheda, the Tholsel and the different streets in its vicinity were crowded almost to suffocation by persons anxious to witness the novel event”Alderman Tiernan proposed Thomas Carthy for May-or, seconded by Alderman Matthews and carried with acclamation. The new Mayor then took the oath of allegiance and the oath of office. Drogheda now had its first Catholic Mayor. A toast was raised to

“Our Protestant and Dissenting friends who have joined us on this occasion”. Doctor Atkinson, addressing the meeting, noted “I can say that the Mayor enters into this office with the respect and esteem, not merely of those of his own creed but also of the Dissenting and Protestant friends around me”. [Dalton 1843]

This signalled a new beginning and an important event in the predominantly Catholic town of Drogheda, and it appears to have been supported by all communities regardless of creed or church.

During the 1850s sadly, religious bigotry appears to re-emerge as the order of the day. A Missionary society had established a school on Fair St. in Drogheda that was open to all denominations. The following reaction was reported in The Drogheda Conservative of the 5th March in 1853:

”A crowd of some thousands assembled in Fair St, North Road, and Bolton Street. Some of the priests we have been informed went through the purlieus of Drogheda inciting the people to come and hoot at the Mission House; they bade them to give every possible annoyance but keep within the law...Two Protestants walking through the streets, going for their own pleasure towards the North Road, never having the least connection with the missionary cause…were knocked down by the zealous mob…This was a meritorious “act of faith” and loudly cheered by the good Catho-lics of Drogheda” It would appear that the Missioners main crime was to have provided food to the Catholic

Catholic Emancipation and the Municipal Reform Act 1843

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children who entered their Mission House, in what was feared was an attempt to convert them. The Drogheda Conservative newspaper further reported;

“The Police had to remain for several hours in the street and with difficulty persuade the people to go away. One woman after the crowd had dispersed, returned with a number of factory girls, poured a torrent of abuse, smashed windows and then ran off to West St chapel to say the rosary”[D.C. 1853].

It seemed the great hopes of unity among communities that was expressed by Thomas Carty, the first Catholic Mayor of Drogheda, had come to nothing. Also, the following disgruntling letter appeared in the Drogheda Conservative of January 12th, 1856;

“Fellow Townsmen, In my last letter to you I promised that in this I would call your attention to the conduct of the Right Worshipful, the reformed Corporation of Drogheda. But on entering into the subject found that it would take several letters to enable me to do justice to the intolerant bigotry of that august body”.

The author of this letter was complaining that in the appointment of the Officers of the Boyne Commis-sioners, who were appointed by the Corporation of Drogheda, “not one Protestant is to be found”. The poignant realities of Democracy were becoming a thorn in the side of the author, who did not allow his name published.

Further Catholic and Protestant tensions were reported in The Drogheda Conservative newspaper of August 1872, where “it was rumoured in Drogheda last night that it was intended to massacre the Protestants of that place on the eve of the tercentenary of St. Bar-tholomew’s Day”. This brought a startling reminder of St. Bartholomew’s Day in 1572, where in Paris a surprise massacre of more than 4,000 French Protes-tants took place at the hands of Catholic community.

The reports of The Drogheda Conservative were scotched by that of Freemans Journal of August 1872 as follows;

“The ridiculous and mischievous report to which our usually staid respectable contemporary the Daily express permitted itself to give circulation on Saturday, to the effect that the Catholics of Drogheda had arranged a wholesale massacre of their Protestant fellow citizens yesterday has of course turned out to be without the slightest foundation. It is true that some military had been drafted into the town for what purpose we know not. All we know is their services were not required. Drogheda wore its usual peaceful attitude yesterday, the only difference being that every person, Protestant and Catholic alike, expressed an equal feeling of astonishment and indignation at the outrageous imputation cast upon the town by the correspondent of our contemporary. We are confident that the paragraph found its way into the Daily Express without editorial su-pervision, but its conductors should take steps to prevent the possibility of a recurrence of such a matter, for the discredit and injury is not confined to the originator of so foul a production”.

Drogheda continued with goodwill among the follow-ers of both traditions, and one might suggest in some regards the media never seems to change.


sther Schaffer was born on Mill Lane, Drogheda in 1892. The entry relating to Esther Schaffer in the 1901 Census describes her as being of “Hebrew Persuasion”, and means effectively Esther was the first recorded Jewish child born in Drogheda. The Schaffers like many other Jewish families that arrived in Ireland in the 1880s, were fleeing religious persecution in central Europe and Russia at that time.

The “May Laws” of 1890 which were enacted against the Jews in Russia were not unlike the Penal Laws which had acted against the Catholics in Ireland in previous centuries. The Census of Ireland of 1901 revealed that the Jewish population of Ireland had reached in excess of 8,000 people. Of this community in Ireland there were six families living in Drogheda. Unlike in the nearby town of Dundalk, a Jewish community was never formally established in Drogheda. However, many children of Jewish families in Drogheda were educated at St. Peter’s Church of Ireland School in Bolton Square.

The opening decades of the 1900s were times of great political change and upheaval in Ireland. The Great War of 1914 to 1918, the Easter Rebellion of 1916, the War of Independence and the birth of the new Free State in 1922 were all events that would change the face of Ireland forever. In the Great War of 1914 -1918, there were 47,000 Irishmen of all denominations who fought and died together on the battlefields of Europe, bullets making no distinction of class or creed. The Drogheda Cenotaph on Mary St. records the names of just fewer than four hundred local men who died in The Great War. Of these local men there are Catholics, Protestants, Presbyterians and Methodists all recorded and listed together. Every year on the 11th November, the Veterans of The Great War marched together to remember their fallen comrades, regardless of religious denomination.

The Drogheda Independent of 1913 highlighted the hope of the Bishop of Tuam, The Right Rev.B.J.Plunkett, Church of Ireland, that: “If we Protestants,

who are real Irishmen, will but take the opportunities open to us and cooperate with our fellow countrymen in all that concerns the real good of our land, and if we show ourselves ready to work for Ireland, we will find plenty to do and will have, in the near future, our share in the national life; and if our old church…National..in name….will show herself national in expression…she will take her rightful place…the Church of St. Patrick”.

This expressed enlightened hopes for the new Ireland. However, the 19th century was to bring mixed fortunes for all denominations in Drogheda, both old and new.

Throughout the 1900s the Catholic community in Drogheda continued to grow, with many highlighted events in the Catholic calendar being participated in and celebrated. The Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin in 1932, saw the provision of special train services from Drogheda to help as many of the townspeople as possible to attend. Also, on an annual basis Blessed Oliver Plunkett Day on the first Sunday of July had achieved pilgrimage status in Ireland. Catholic Pilgrims from the four provinces arrived in Drogheda to pray for the canonisation of the martyred Primate, whose relics were on public display in St. Peter’s Church on West St. Drogheda. On October 12th 1975 a delegation from Drogheda was led by the Mayor, Ald. Peter Moore to attend the canonisation ceremony of Oliver Plunkett by Pope Paul IV in Rome. Remarkably in the new Ireland, the numbers of Pilgrims attending the July feast day of the new saint rapidly declined. Perhaps many believed that now St. Oliver had been canonised, their job was done. In 1979 Pope John Paul II came to Ireland and visited Killineer which is located

Modern Drogheda [1890-1995]E

just north of Drogheda town. Pope John Paul II came to pray for peace in Ireland, at the very site where William of Orange had first viewed the town in 1690. The number of people at Killineer on Saturday 29th of September 1979, for the visit by Pope John Paul II was in the region of 400,000, and brought Drogheda and Ireland to a standstill.

During the 1900s there were two new Catholic churches built to address the growing population of the modern town of Drogheda. These were Our Lady of Lourdes Church built in 1959 in the expanding parish of St. Peter’s and The Holy Family Church built in 1973, at Ballsgrove in the expanding parish of St. Mary’s.

The Anglican and Protestant communities experienced a major decline in numbers progressively through the 1900s and in this regard, Drogheda followed the apparently national pattern in Ireland. In the 1990s St. Peter’s Parish Church of Ireland, following the clo-sure of churches at Ballymakenny and Termonfeckin, focused services and activities in St. Peters on Peter St, in Drogheda town. Similarly on the south side of the town, the churches on Mary St. and at Colpe were closed and the church at Julianstown became the main centre for services in south Drogheda. The Methodist Church on Laurence St after a final service in June of 1963 closed, again due to the declining numbers of the community. However, the Presbyterian congregation, due to the unprecedented growth in the early years of the new millennium, were obliged to build a new church at Colpe in 2012.

The Franciscan Church at Laurence St. Drogheda closed in 2000, which brought an end to the Franciscan presence in the town that had spanned over 700 years.

Many new denominations have now emerged in modern Drogheda, side by side with the more traditional churches. The Bahá’í Faith, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Buddhist, Indian Orthodox faiths, with more recently the opening of the Islamic Centre at

Windmill Road 2005, and new communities of Pentecostal churches among others, have all added to the religious diversity of the town. Down through the centuries in Drogheda various religious denominations have managed to live together and respect each other’s point of view, with cooperation occurring at many levels even throughout periods of harsh political change and in some cases throughout persecution. These events were almost always controlled or contrived by outside forces, whether political or otherwise. As highlighted in this study, the various communities in Drogheda town shared churches, co-operated in education and even turned a blind eye to the activities of officially suppressed religions during the time of the Penal Laws. The many religious denominations that have made Drogheda their home have largely been welcomed, and hopefully this historical legacy of general goodwill will continue into the new millennia.

Sean Collins M.A.

he following section of The History of Religious and Cultural Integration in Drogheda provides detail for each of the houses of worship, the Chapels or Churches extant in Drogheda from 1180 to the year 2000.

St.Mary’s Roman CatholicChurch, James St., built during 1881-1889 . “A tall French Gothic church with a gabled entrance front” is the description of The Parish Church of St. Mary’s in Drogheda by Christine Casey [Casey and Rowan 1993].

Following a public meeting called in the parish of St. Mary’s in 1881 it was declared “that a new church is required for the wants of the Parish”. Fr. John Curry C.C. had called the meeting which resulted in a subscription list being drawn up and the campaign to build a new church began. On St. Patrick’s Day in 1881 the foundation stone for the new Church was laid by Thomas Matthews and blessed by Dr. Nulty, the Bishop of Meath. On Easter Sunday in 1884, just over three years later, the new church was dedicated with a mass celebrated by Dr. Donnelly, the Bishop of Clogher and actively assisted by twenty priests. The initial subscrip-tions for the Church building fund had raised in excess of £4,000. However it was estimated that it would take another £4,000 to complete the finished church. The church opening was a day of celebration for the Catho-lics of Drogheda and particularly for those of St. Mary’s Parish. Indeed even special trains were organised by The Great Northern Railways from as far away as Virginia, Co. Cavan to celebrate this great public event. While the building was opened in 1884, it was to take another twenty years and four parish priests to create the fine interiors and finish the completed Church. The structure is finely decorated with stained glass windows, stone statues and colourful mosaics.

Fr.Patrick Adams summed up the meaning of the church to the people when he told the author John McCullen in 1984

Religious HousesT

“St.Mary’s Church will ever hold a cherished place in my memory. It recalls for me memories of tearful occasions at the baptismal font; memories of happy marriage unions at the altar, memories of “goodbye” as parishioners left the church for their last resting place” [McCullen 1984]

St. Mary’s Church has been the house of worship for the Catholic community of St.Mary’s Parish for over one hundred and thirty years and most recently the Par-ish Priest Fr. Denis Nulty was appointed from St. Marys to be Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin.



St.Mary’s Church of Ireland, Mary St. 1810. The present St.Mary’s Church of Ireland on Mary St. in Drogheda is the second church building on that site since the church which was de-stroyed during the Cromwellian siege of the Drogheda in 1649. In medieval times, a Carmelite friary stood on this site and the longest stretch of Drogheda Town Wall is also in the immediate environs, confirming the antiquity of the site. The current St. Mary’s Church of Ireland, which is no longer in service, was built in 1810 on what is the earliest site of recorded Christian worship on the south side of the town.

The church is surrounded by a graveyard and the remains of the former church building. Casey and Rowan describe the building as being of “simple hall and tower church of 1810….of course rubble with limestone dressings; three -bay hall and a three-stage tower with pinnacles and needle spire. [Casey and Rowan 1993].

An entry in the parish records dated 3rd April 1809

reads, “We the Minister, Churchwarden and other Pa-rishioners here assembled finding that the church of this parish is in so decayed and ruinous condition that any money to be layed out in an attempt to have it repaired would be so much money lost to the parish and we therefore think it absolutely necessary to have the said old church taken down and a new one erected on its site for the purpose of Divine Worship” [Nelson 2002]

As a result of this decision the new church was built. It remained as the parish church of St.Mary from 1810 until 2002 when it was closed being surplus to needs. It is now in private ownership.

Set into the boundary wall of the church, an ornate grave slab clearly dated from 1610 has been preserved. This effigial stone is decorated with figures of one Henry Duff, a local merchant and his wife. The Records at Trinity College also indicate that Archbishop Ussher is buried in the churchyard at St. Marys church of Ireland. Interestingly, the first Catholic Mayor of Drogheda, Thomas Carty (1843) is also buried here.


Kingdom Hall, Barrack Lane 1982. The community of Jehovah’s Witnesses first became known in Ireland in the 1930s. In Drogheda they met in various premises until they opened the Kingdom Hall on Barrack Lane in 1982. This community has contributed further detail about their history and tradition in the second part of this book.

Bahá’í Community, Mary St. 1987. The first members of the Bahá’í Community came to Drogheda in 1974. Members of the community from Clare, Limerick and Dublin moved to Drogheda to “pioneer” the Bahá’í message. They held “fireside” evenings in houses and flats in Drogheda for people who wished to learn about their faith. A Bahá’í centre was opened on Mary St. in 1987. This community has also contributed further detail about their history and tradition in the second part of this book.

Holy Family Church, Ballsgrove,1973. The Corporation of Drogheda purchased the Ball Estate in the mid 1950s. The Ball family had lived in Drogheda since the early 1300s. Mary Catherine Ball, a member of the family, was beatified by Pope John Paul in the 1990s. In the 1700s Mary Catherine Ball had died in prison in Dublin, imprisoned because she would not revoke her faith as a Catholic.

The acquisition of the land comprising the Ball Estate provided the necessary area for large developments of municipal housing on the south side of Drogheda. Estates such as Ballsgrove, St.Finians Park and Rathmullen Park were thereby completed. This expansion of the town in-creased the population of St.Mary’s Parish to almost 8,000 people. The Meath Diocese recognised the need for a new church to accommodate this expanded community. A site for the new church was secured in Ballsgrove and the first

sod was cut by Fr. James Johnson in 1970. The new church of the Holy Family, Ballsgrove was officially opened and blessed on the 28th October in 1973. The church campus has continued to expand and now includes a sports centre, and also a community and family facility.


The Augustinian Church, Shop St. 1866. The Augustinian Church was also popularly known locally as the Low Lane since the era of the Penal Laws. It was built on the site of the Chapel of St. Monica which dated back to 1780 and also an additional piece of land which was donated by Lord Bellew. In 1859 Fr. Patrick Kelly was appointed Prior of the Augustinian community in Drogheda. Fr. Kelly was a local man and immediately with the support of Fr. Francis Doyle, started a campaign to build a new church. The foundation stone was laid by the Primate Dr. Joseph Dixon on Friday 28th of September 1860. Fr. Kel-ly’s family, who were in business in Drogheda, supported the project, and provided a large sum of the finance required to build the new church.

Fr.Doyle, in his diaries, commented on the initial stages of the project; “In boring the different parts of our site, we found there was about ten feet on average of “made” ground below the level of Shop.St; in some cases four or five feet more.

Underneath was a deposit of two or three feet of turfy strata; then a couple of loose sand; beneath a kind of loose shingle for a couple of feet more. Yellow clay was brought up through the whole length of the North Aisle, at a distance of about nineteen feet below Shop St. In the South Aisle we bored twenty seven feet and still no sign of it. Nothing but a selection of turf, slob land and shingle. We decided on building our foundations on the turfy substance as being the firmest”. [Fr P. Duffner 1979]

This best explains the reason for the support buttress to the side of the Augustinian Church on Bachelor’s Lane. The Church cost £8,800 to complete, and the Kelly family provided £4,000 of the total.

The Augustinian Church in Drogheda is noted for its particularly fine east window by Harry Clarke. From left to right it portrays “St.Augustine and St.Monica, Augustine as the Sledgehammer of Heresy, Augus-tine and St.Alypius on their conversion, Augustine alone, the Baptism of Augustine, Augustine preach-ing to Augustinian friars, and finally perhaps the best the presentation of the cincture to St.Monica by the Virgin. All wonderfully coloured, with the slender figures, elegantly falling draperies and hieratic poses characteristic of Clarke’s decadent sensous idiom.” [Casey and Rowan]

St.Peter’s Church of Ireland, Peter St. 1748. Earliest references suggest there has been a church on the site of St.Peters Church of Ireland since at least the year 1230, when a Synod was held there. Later, in 1649 when Oliver Cromwell besieged Drogheda town, his soldiers set the then Church on fire. It must have been a substantial edifice for it was noted to have had seven chapels of ease. The current Church was built in 1748 to the design of Hugh Darley, a noted architect of the period. Francis Johnson added the spire some forty years later when he resided in the town.

Casey and Rowan writing in 1993, describe St.Pe-ter’s thus; “The façade of St.Peters is a handsome Palladian design. Three bays and two storeys of limestone ashlar, horizontally channeled, with a broad eves pediment broken by a great central tower rising above it through two storeys. The tower is expressed as a giant round-headed entrance, a terse Diocletian on the first floor and in the belfry stage corner pilasters, a round headed opening, and above a Gibbsian bracketed occulus. But here the classicism ends. The original pyramidial stone steeple was replaced during the 1780s by a pinnacled clock stage and Gothic needle spire to designs by Francis Johnson”.

The Church was illustrated on Ravel’s Map of Drogheda, 1749, and along with Barlow House, the two are the only buildings that remain extant from the various map illustrations.

In 1999, an arson attack caused much damage to St Peter’s Church of Ireland interior. A fundrais-ing campaign was launched by Archbishop Robin Eames, and in excess of one million pounds was raised to restore the Church. A lot of this funding was raised locally, and it is often acknowledged by the current Rector Revd.Michael Graham, as a very successful cross community effort. At the fund-raising campaign launch he said “Tonight’s launch has brought home to me as well as St.Peter’s being our Church and a place important to the people of Drogheda, it is also a piece of our national heritage which must be preserved and is of tremendous na-tional importance”[Drogheda Independent May 19th 2000]



The Franciscan Church, Laurence St. 1830 - 2000. The Franciscan community remained in the same area of Drogheda from their first arrival in the town in the thirteenth century. A passage in the Calendar of the Gormanston Register describes Bachelor’s Lane thus, “the upper lane from Booth St [ShopSt.] leading to the house of the friars minor”. {Gormanston Register C13]. The name of each Franciscan priests ends with the letters “O.F.M”, that is Order of the Friars Minor. Like their medieval counterparts, the Franciscans of the 18th and 19th centuries remained in the same location in Drogheda and erected their church on a site bounded by Bachelor’s Lane, Keyser’s Lane and Laurence St., popularly known as the “Highlanes”. The Church served the community for over 150 years until its closure in 2000, thus marking the end of the Franciscan presence in the town which had continued for over 700 years, even enduring the era of the Penal Laws.

The Fransican church on Laurence St. Drogheda is described as being, “Late Georgian Tudoresque Gothic, built into the steep slope that rises from the quay towards Laurence St.; the church has the uncommon feature of entrances at ground and gallery level”[Casey and Rowan 1993]. The building is now restored and refurbished as the “Highlanes” Municipal Art Gallery, Drogheda.

St.Peter’s Church and St.Oliver Plunkett Memorial Church, West St. 1884. St.Peter’s Roman Catholic Church on West St was built in 1884 and has the highest spire of the town of Drogheda. This church replaces an earlier building constructed in 1791. The new church incorporated the older church which was in continuous use until the edifice of the new church was completed. The foundation stone of the church was laid on the 10th July 1881, on the bicentenary of the martyrdom of St. Oliver Plunket at Tyburn. Fr. Robert Murphy, who spearheaded the new church project, had a great devotion to St. Oliver and the choice of this significant date for the laying the foundation stone was part of his plan.

Fr.Murphy who was appointed Archdeacon, personally supervised the erection of the new building, and by the time of his death in 1900 the main structure was completed. Monsignor Patrick Segrave, who was Parish Priest from 1900 to1934, completed the decoration of the church and on the 29th June 1914, the church was consecrated, almost twenty years after it was first built. In 1921 the Relic of the head of St.Oliver Plunkett came to be housed in St Peters Church on West St. Mr. Tommy Burns provides the following text from the website for the St.Oliver Plunkett Shrine;

“A couple of years after St. Oliver’s martyrdom, the Relic of the Head was brought to Rome and remained there for about forty years, until it was given into the care of the new community of Dominican nuns at Siena convent in Drogheda, c.1725. The nuns were under the leadership of Sr. Catherine Plunkett, a relative of St. Oliver and believed to have been his grand niece. The community had shortly beforehand moved from a mud cabin on the south side of the Boyne to a more substantial house in Dyer Street and they were living surreptitiously as a group of women, so as to avoid any difficulties with the authorities. For the following two centuries, this community proved their resourcefulness and devotion by faithfully preserving and venerating this priceless relic of the Irish Church, throughout the difficulties of penal times. During the war of independence, because of a fear that some of the notorious Black and Tan forces might steal or desecrate the Relic, armed republican forces were positioned in its defence, in the locality of the Siena community at Cord Road, this being in an era of attack and reprisal. Within months, and to the great disappointment of this community, the Relic of the Head was transferred in 1921 to the newly built St. Peter’s Church, Drogheda, the Memorial Church of St. Oliver, where it was installed in a side altar.

The Relic of St. Oliver’s Head now stands in an impressive new shrine, which was erected in 1995. Pilgrims have the opportunity to walk around the shrine and view at close quarters this precious relic of the Irish church. One can also view the original document of authentication of the relics, which was signed shortly after St. Oliver’s martyrdom, by Elizabeth Sheldon and surgeon John Ridley. After St. Oliver was hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, the Head was thrown into the prepared fire nearby. His friends quickly retrieved it however and scorch marks from the fire may still be seen on the left cheek of the Head. The Head is heavy and not just a bare skull and is in remarkably good condition considering that it has never been hermetically sealed. The Shrine at Drogheda also includes some bone relics of St. Oliver, donated by the Benedictine Community, Down-side around the time of his canonisation. Overhead is the Canonisation Picture, which hung from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome during the canonisation ceremony on October 12th 1975. In a glass cabinet nearby, is the door from the condemned cell of Newgate Prison, London and St. Oliver would have occupied this cell as a condemned

man for the last few weeks of his life. Renowned for his letter writing, it was during this time that St. Oliver wrote his most poignant letters. He also wrote during this time, his last speech, which he delivered from the gallows at Tyburn and is famous for showing forgiveness to all those who had anything to do with his death”. [Burns 2006]



Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Lourdes Square 1959. In 1939 with the increased population and the expansion of St Peter’s Parish, a chapel of ease was erected in Hardman’s Gardens to help ease the burden of the Parish Church on West St., Drogheda. In 1955 Monsignor John F. Stokes as part of his ambitious plans for the parish, proposed the building of a new church in Hardman’s Gardens as the chapel of ease was in poor repair. The old chapel building was acquired by the Medical Missionaries of Mary and after its demolition provided the site for the Nurses’ Home, now the NEHB Office. A larger more northerly site was provided for the building of a new church.Following an extensive fundraising campaign by Monsignor Stokes, the new church of our Lady of

Lourdes was consecrated on the 5th April 1959. William Garner in “Drogheda Architectural Heritage” described the building thus;

“designed in a Roman classical style .It has a heavy Doric portico of granite ashlar with an Annuncia-tion in the tympanium. Flanking the portico are tall round-headed windows. According to traditional formula there is a baptistery on one side and a tower [campanile] on the other. The tower is built of rusticated granite with a domed lantern in an imperial Rome/Lutyens manner. The Church is roofed in copper. Internally it is a long tunnel with a tall round-headed windows and a coffered ceiling”. [Garner 1986]

The Priory of St. Mary Magdalene, Dominican Church, Dominic St. 1878. The Archbishop of Armagh Dr. McGettigan dedicated the new church of St. Mary Magdalene on the 15th September 1878. The street in Drogheda that is now known as Dominic St. was then referred to as Linen Hall St. and even earlier as Troopers Lane. The Dominicans or Friars Preachers as they were more commonly known first arrived in Drogheda in the 1224. The building of St. Mary Magdalenes on Dominic St. continued the tradition first established by the Dominicans with the construction of the Magdalene Friary built at Sunday’s Gate in the late 1200s. After the Suppression in 1539 the Dominicans had no permanent base in Drogheda, although there are references in the 1700s to a chapel at Mill Lane, Trinity St. In the late 1700s, the Dominicans purchased a site opposite the Linen Hall and built a Chapel on the site of the current Priory. [Doherty 1978]

In the late 1860s, Fr. Patrick Meade, a local man who had been educated on the continent, returned to his native Drogheda as Prior of the Dominicans. With the support of Mr. John Kelly who was a key benefactor to the recently completed Augustinian Church (1866), set about fund-raising to build a new church on a site between the River Boyne and the old Linen Hall Chapel, now the site of the Dominican Priory. The foundation stone was laid on the 4th September 1870.

The new church of St.Mary Magdalens was completed in 1878 and described as “Gothic of a distinctly continental character… A small but tall cruciform church with a block-ish apsidal sanctuary…..An attractive saddleback tower, tucked in between the nave and the transept, contributes to a very positive sense of architectural mass“ [Casey and Rowan 1993].



Presbyterian Church, Palace St. 1827-2012. The Presbyterian Church on Palace St. is described as “a diminutive descendant of Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, recessed from the street front and set between a pair of modest, three storey late Georgian houses, also recessed. The church is a simple two bay hall of brick and limestone; the lime-stone ashlar entrance is flanked by dinky octagonal turrets with battlemented tops and a large four-centred arch and elaborately cusped Perp window between. Charming carpenters Gothic in stone”. [Casey and Rowan].

The first recorded Presbyterian Community in Drogheda is noted in 1650, one year after the notorious Cromwellian Siege of 1649. It is suggested by Bill McIllreavy that this first commu-nity was a legacy of the Cromwellian garrison that remained in the town after the siege.

On the 24th of April 1826 the Mayor of Drogheda, Wil-liam Fairtlough laid the foundation stone for the first Presbyterian Church on the site at Palace St. This followed years of the community having no permanent meeting house in Drogheda and using the Protestant Church of St.Peter’s for services. The Presbyterian Church on Palace St. was officially opened in August 1828. The opening sermon was preached by the Rev. Dr.Cooke, an evangelist from Ulster, known as the “Presbyterian Pope”.The Church cost £2,000 and a grant from Drogheda Cor-poration paid for the two octagonal turrets, “as they wished the church to have a respectable front”.

The Presbyterian Church on Palace Street closed in 2012, when a new church was constructed at Colpe, a townland in County Meath, approximately three miles from Drogheda town.

Methodist Church, Laurence St. 1811- 1950. “These gates are erected in loving memory of James and Anna Davis.” The plaque bearing this inscription can still be seen at the gates of the Methodist Church on Laurence St, which is now incorporated into the Laurence Centre in Drogheda. The corner stone for the Methodist Church was laid by the Revd Adam Clarke, a native of Ulster. From 1883 a day school operated from this building under the supervision of the trustees. James and Anna Davis were obviously generous benefactors to the Methodist church. They had a large department store on West St, Drogheda, which is now the building occupied by Penneys.

George Bassett described the Methodist Church in 1883 as follows, “The church is a square two storey building, with pointed windows and is remarkable for the simplicity of its architectural effect which is characteristic of the churches of the Methodist body throughout Ireland”[Bassett 1883]. The building was refurbished in 1911, and was used as a school as well as for church services. However, the Meth-odist Church ceased to function in Drogheda with a final service being held here in June 1963.


Mell Church, St.Joseph’s Chapel, 1907. The church at Mell was first built as a school in1836. In 1907 the building was extended and re-furbished by Canon Carolan and became the Chapel of St. Joseph. The building was used as a “chapel-school” until the new school, across the road was opened in 1957. During the extension of the building the remains of a much earlier oratory were uncovered. Jim Garry writing in 1990 noted;

“In 1623 we find there were six Cistercian fathers in Drogheda under the Lord abbot Patrick Barnwell, who had received his appointment from Rome. They actually founded a modest oratory at Mell where novices were admitted and sent to Louvain for their education…The location for the modest ora-tory came to light in 1907 when the present church at Mell was been extended.” The wall of the church has a plaque recording “Cistercian Oratory after the suppression of Mellifont”.

A beautiful but simple building, St.Joseph’s chapel has served the people of Mell for nearly two hundred years.

St.Mark’s Church, Fair St, 1827-1895. “Wanted a plot of ground which must be in fee with-in the town of Drogheda whereon to erect a Chapel of Ease; or any tenant holding property under the Corporation which would answer the purpose will be treated with….Proposals will be received by the Mayor or Lathum Fairtclough Esq. Town Clerk”Drogheda Journal 1826.

In 1825 the growing community of parishioners of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland complained of the shortage of space within the Church on Peter St. It was then decided to petition the Corporation of Drogheda for support. The pre-emancipation Council saw it as their duty to resolve the situation. Hence the process began to acquire a site and provide a chapel of ease, and a site on Fair St.was chosen for this purpose.

St.Mark’s Church was consecrated in June 1827 by the Bishop of Down and Connor. It served as the Chapel of Ease to St. Peter’s Church of Ireland until 1895 when it was disposed of as being surplus to the needs of the community. All that remains today is the door frame which is located beside the Fair St. exit of the O’Reilly Bros. building.

Mell Church, St.Josephs Chapel, 1907.



The History of Religions in Drogheda and their Institutions - an introduction to organised religion and institutions in Drogheda presently in 2013.


or many years Ireland was regarded as a country of emigration, as for a range of historical reasons, people leaving Ireland put down roots all over the world. However, in recent years the country has experienced the relatively new phenomenon of immigration with the arrival of a diverse group of nationalities and cultures to its shores. Diversity has the potential to be a positive cultural force, as it offers us the opportunity to broaden our

horizons by experiencing one another’s traditions, religions and cultures. The process of integration involves the coming together of all societal groups to create a unified and tolerant society; one in which we can all co-exist in a spirit of peace and under-standing. It is with this spirit of understanding in mind that the Drogheda Civic Trust initiated the HORCID project ‘History of religious and cultural integration in Drogheda: A Peace III Programme 2007-2013’ supported by the Small Grants Fund for Co. Louth.

The findings of the HORCID project offer a unique insight into society in modern day Drogheda and its surrounding area. Through a process of oral inter-views carried out among people from a cross-section of nationalities, religions and cultures, their hopes and expectations for the future have been identified and described in their own words. Their journey to the Drogheda area is recounted, as are their thoughts on how the process of integration in the community can best be achieved. There are a variety of vibrant groups in the area and this section of the book chronicles and celebrates their diversity. Various leaders put forward their hopes for the future of their congregations and offer us an insight into how they believe the people of Drogheda and its environs can progress together towards a better future.

I wish to thank Drogheda Civic Trust for their foresight in initiating this important project. I further wish to acknowledge An Lú Cuimhní Society for their hard work and professionalism in managing the

essential research, interviews and documentation. Also, a special thanks to Sandra Boyd of Goldfinger Solutions who has acted as a consultant and advisor throughout. In addition, thanks to the lectur-ers from the School of Humanities in DKIT for their encouragement, support and advice. Particular appreciation must also go to Margaret Andrews, project coordinator at the Peace Process: Layers of Meaning project at DKIT. Finally, this project would not have been possible without the cooperation and valuable insight offered up by the participants involved. So, on behalf of Drogheda Civic Trust and An Lú Cuimhní Society, I thank you sincerely.

Danny Carr, August 2013

Introduction F

Drogheda

t. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Indian Orthodox Congregation is a congregation of the Indian Orthodox Church which began in Drogheda with a few orthodox faithful in October 2006 by Father George Thankachen. The Indian Orthodox Church has a small presence in Ireland but is one of the oldest Christian churches in existence,

established in Kerala, India in 52 A.D by St. Thom-as, one of the twelve favourite Disciples of Christ. Known in Western Christianity as “Doubting Thomas”, Fr. George sees this as a pejorative term, preferring the title “Daring Thomas”. Fr. George explains, “For it was not a doubt of resistance to truth, but one that desperately desired a truthful answer, a doubt which gave birth to faith when the answer was revealed.” The headquarters of the Indian Orthodox Church is situated in the ancient city of Kottayam in Kerala. It is presided over by the current Supreme Head, His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II, the Catholicose of the East and Malankara Metropolitan of the Apostolic See of St. Thomas. The church has a separate synod and actually belongs to the Oriental Orthodox Family. According to Fr. George, it is part of the same cat-egory as the Byzantine Orthodox Church but with slight differences in theology.

Fr. George was born into a rich Orthodox tradition in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala. He graduated in history before entering a seminary to study theology, following which he took up a position ministering to the faithful of Kerala. He arrived in Ireland in 2006 and settled in Drogheda when his wife transferred to work in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. They have three children and have also sadly suffered the loss of a daughter. When Fr. George decided to establish a congregation here he was facilitated by Reverend Michael Graham, Rector of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland, Drogheda, who made a weekly timeslot available to him for church services and education. Fr. George expresses

his gratitude to both Rev. Graham and the members of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland community for be-ing magnanimous enough to permit the use of their church and parish hall. Gradually, the Church con-gregation grew, eventually numbering fifty families but this number has since reduced to approximately fifteen families as many have been lost to emigration in the wake of Ireland’s economic decline. However, the congregation is kept vibrant by the enthusiasm of those who are still here, with many travelling from outside the wider Drogheda area. 1Fr. George Thankachen, ‘Doubting Thomas’ Indian Orthodox Herald, (Dec 11th, 2011) [online] <http://www.orthodoxherald.com/2011/12/11/doubting-thomas/>2Ibid3Ibid

St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Indian Orthodox Congregation

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The acolytes (altar assistants), Fr. George, and the Diocesan Bishop HG Dr. Mathews Mar Thimothios metropolitan.



On the subject of community integration, Fr. George sees no real problems. Most of his congregation is employed in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital which means they are in daily contact with the wider community. However, he notes a difference between how the younger and older age groups interact with his congregation. He believes that the older age group is more religious, spiritual and accepting and many visit his church services. He sees the younger generation as not necessarily hostile but reluctant to mingle. He puts this down to a more secularised youth who are less bothered by religion or spirituality due to modernisation. “They don’t find joy in the church activities, they don’t involve much”, explains Fr. George.

Fr. George does not foresee his children having any problems with integration or with religion in school. His son attends St. Joseph’s Catholic school while his daughter is currently enrolled in St. Peter’s which is run by the Church of Ireland. He regards his own church as having many similarities with both the

Catholic Church and the Church of Ireland explaining, “we are Catholic in substance and Protestant in principle, and that is Orthodoxy, going midway.” Fr George also feels connected to both the Catholic and Protestant Churches and has no difficulty attending services in either church if none are available in his own.

To provide for the religious education of children, a Sunday school has been established while cultural needs such as language classes and music are taught on Saturdays. Both take place in St. Peter’s parish hall. Fr. George believes that the next generation will see themselves as both Irish and Indian. He tries to promote the good elements of Irish culture while preserving Indian heritage and culture. His impres-sion of Drogheda has changed little in the time he has been in residence here. From the beginning he has found most people warm and accommodating. Fr. George hopes to remain in Drogheda for a number of years although this may depend on his wife’s work, and ultimately, God’s will.

St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Indian Orthodox Congregation - Sunday School children’s choir

ountain Of Fire and Miracles Ministries originated in Lagos, Nigeria as a Pentecostal organisation in 1989. It has since then developed international church branches in the US, Canada, Africa, Asia and throughout Europe. MFM Ministries are a “full gospel ministry devoted to the Revival of Apostolic Signs, Holy Ghost fireworks and the unlimited demonstration of the power of God to deliver to the uttermost.”

The Drogheda Branch of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry was established in a modest setting in 2001. Founded by Olufemi Sokan or Pastor Sokan as he is fondly referred to, it started as a house fellowship in his home which he shares with his wife Titilola who is also a Pastor and their three children, two of whom were born in Ireland.

Pastor Sokan left his native Nigeria where he “origi-nally trained as a legal practitioner” and relocated to Ireland in 2000 accompanied by his wife and eldest child. Initially on arrival Pastor Sokan was struck by the similarities shared by the two cultures, especially “in terms of the family.” He notes that the Irish have large families, “just as we have back at home in Africa” and felt that the people were “very warm and welcoming.” Drogheda has been home to the Sokan family since they arrived in Ireland. In the beginning, there were very few members of the African community in their locality and the Church was initially founded with “just two families” who attended the prayer meetings that were being conducted in his sitting room.

Since those early days, the branch has undergone a series of location changes before finally settling down in its current place of worship in Donore Business Park. One of their former premises was located at the Holy Family Church with which there remains a strong affiliation. Similarly, a friendship has been forged with The Evangelical Alliance of Ireland and Pastor Sokan relates that from time to time the churches invite one another to partake in various

programmes which enable them to “come together and have a great time.” Their new premises are currently able to accommodate a growing congregation of over two hundred people and they have conducted weddings, baby dedications and other celebratory services. Interaction and community spirit are matters of great importance to Pastor Sokan and the MFM Church. He states that one of their main purposes is to “interact with the Irish community, while attending to their spiritual needs” and also to support charity organisations such as The Gary Kelly Centre and Homeless Aid.

On the subject of cultural integration Pastor Sokan observes that while it is already apparent among his congregation, he feels that it is most evident in his children. He explains how they have developed and embraced so much of the Irish culture whilst still retaining their own faith and cultural identity. He recalls how one of his daughters recently returned from a three week stay in the Gaeltacht where she partook in an extensive Irish language programme. He believes that “one day we are going to see African/Irish reading the news on television in Irish.” Pastor Sokan also believes that the role of African women is changing in Irish society due to a “do it yourself attitude” and describes how taking an “all hands on deck approach” will bring peace and unity to the home. Women have a vital role to play in the MFM and the Women’s Foundation was established to deal with issues such as health, education and empowerment.

Mountain Of Fire and Miracles Ministry

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Regarding the effect of the recession on society, Pastor Sokan retains a positive and generous attitude and trusts that by helping ourselves and each other things will return “back to normal.” This year the MFM has enjoyed the success of the maiden edition of Awesome Magazine, a publication that is available at the church or on request from Pastor Sokan. The magazine offers the reader an insight into the church by providing some background

history and by listing past, present and upcoming events within the various branches and ministries. It also features articles dealing with sensitive issues such as mental health awareness and cyber bullying. Although the Drogheda Branch of the MFM originated in modest surroundings it has certainly developed and gone from strength to strength; Pastor Sokan and his congregation are praying for its continued success.

Pastor Sokan with Lanna Floody and Pauline Manning of An Lú Cuimhní Society

4Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International Website, ‘Our History’, (Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, © 2012) [online] <http://www.mountainoffire.org/index.php/2012-10-20-09-36-37/history-of-mfm>

5Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International Website, ‘Overview’, (Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, © 2012) [online] <http://www.mountainoffire.org/index.php/2012-10-20-09-36-37/overview>

he Jamaytul-Islamiyat Group whose place of worship is at Ballsgrove Community Centre, was founded in 2002 to provide a forum for the Islamic religion among Muslims in Drogheda and its environs. The Islamic faith is the religion of Muslims as set forth in the Quran and teaches that there is only one God, Allah, and that Muhammad (pbuh) is his prophet. The Raodotu Soliheen L-Islam was founded in 2008 to create an avenue for the growing number of Nigerian Muslims in Drogheda to practice Islam.

The two groups are associated sister groups that compliment each other. According to a spokes-person, both groups work together to invite fellow Muslims to all that is good, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong.

Coming to Ireland has caused no major problems for Nigerians of the Islamic family in terms of religious tolerance and integration. Founding member, Chief Missionary and Imam of Raodotu Soliheen L-Is-lam, Abdul Ganiyu Asubiaro, explains: “It is easy for us when we come to Ireland to integrate with other Nigerian Christians and with Irish Christian society.” However, some degree of difficulty did arise for them in terms of adapting to the small number of Mosques available for prayer. Ireland is different to Nigeria in this respect. Imam Bashir Adigun of the Jamaytul-Islamiyat Group recalls how in Nigeria “there is a Mosque on practically every street” and also how they are reminded to pray, as a “public address system” calls them to prayer. Bashir laughs at the fact that while in Ireland he must set a reminder on his phone for prayer times. The Masjid on Wind-mill Road was the first Islamic Mosque established in Drogheda, and as Muslims commit to prayer five times a day it was a natural progression for them to establish another Mosque at St Anne’s in Trinity Street. Bashir notes that since its inception the number of members in attendance has increased from just a few people, growing to “four or five families and to one hundred now today.”

Both Jamaytul-Islamiyat Group and Raodotu Soli-heen L-Islam hope to further increase in strength by welcoming new members from the wider Drogheda community. They believe for this to happen it is important that people disregard any preconceptions they may have regarding the Islamic faith and equip themselves with accurate knowledge. Afolabi Kekere-ekun arrived in Ireland from Nigeria in 1998 and has lived in Drogheda with his family since 2000. He has been involved with both the Jamay-tul-Islamiyat Group and Raodotu Soliheen L-Islam from the early days and is active in promoting a positive awareness of Islam. Indeed, he enthusi-astically speaks about how during the Great Irish Famine, the Islamic State (Ottoman) ruler Sultan Khaleefah Abdul-Majid secretly sent money and three ships filled with food to Ireland and how the ships secretly berthed in Drogheda harbour. Afolabi feels that the world media has portrayed Islam in an unfair and inaccurate way which he believes has had the effect of frightening some people when they hear the word “Muslim”. When his children ask him why this is the case, he explains to them that “all that is happening has nothing to do with Islam, it’s all about politics.” Imam Abdul also supports this view and reflects on how the word “Jihad” has been misinterpreted by some people to mean something sinister, when to him it actually means to “peacefully strive towards the cause of Allah.” In spite of these misconceptions they believe that they have been well received and accepted by the people of Drogheda

Jamaytul-Islamiyut Group and Raodotu Soliheen L-Islam

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and surrounding area. Imam Abdul notices how some people in Drogheda are becoming more interested in Muslim traditions such as the fasting of Ramadan and the feast of Eid al-Fitr which takes place when Ramadan is completed.

Following his arrival in Ireland in 2000, Imam Abdul initially lived in Dublin before moving to his current home in Dunleer, Co. Louth in 2004. He has found the people of Dunleer very accommodating and notes that “it was very, very easy to integrate with them.” Afolabi has had some good and bad experi-ences but in general he describes his experience of living in Ireland as being a “positive one.” He an-ticipates that his children will have a positive future and he would prefer to “leave them independently to think of who they are.” He adds that “by birth they know that they are Irish, but by origin they know that they started far back in Africa.” Imam Abdul

believes that the children should keep in touch with their African roots and so they are taught about their history and culture as it is believed these should not be forgotten. Imam Abdul feels that the government can play a part by fostering an understanding of diversity and that if this happens, “we’re going to have a better Drogheda in the future where… every-body… will always want to live.” Afolabi sees that the integration process will require a combined effort between the government and the people and believes that when this happens, “it will become meaning-ful… and that is when the strength of integration can really be felt.” The Jamaytul-Islamiyat Group and Raodotu Soliheen L-Islam started from modest beginnings but seek to enrich people’s lives in the Drogheda area by promoting more awareness of the truth regarding Islam as a way of life.

Imam Abdul Ganiyu A. Asubiaro,Imam Bashir Adigun


he Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) began in Nigeria in 1952. Since the 1970s it has expanded and now has branches across the globe. Writing in the New York Times, Andrew Rice describes the RCCG as a growing global force in the Pentecostal belief system of churches “renowned for the intensity of their prayer.” Pastor Adewale Adeoti is the Pastor in charge of the Sanctuary for all Nations parish of The Redeemed Chris-tian Church of God in Drogheda.

He was born in Nigeria and travelled in Septem-ber 1996 to further his education in Germany. He arrived in Ireland with his expectant wife Theresa in August 2002. Upon arrival, he initially resided in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, but fell in love with Drogheda while visiting an aunt who lived there. As Pastor of the Sanctuary for all Nations parish, he sees his role as looking after both the physical and spiritual wellbeing of his congregation by acting as their “shelter.” It is a role which he combines with his everyday job.

Pastor Adewale is acutely aware of the importance of community integration for the future wellbeing of the people of Drogheda. His church is playing its part towards integration by placing a big emphasis on carrying out charitable works. They reach out to many needy sections of society and recently made a generous monetary donation to a children’s hospital. He believes that charitable works are important because “people can see that we are here for real, we are here for good and we are here to help as well.” He acknowledges the cultural differ-ences between how his Pentecostal community prays and how the historically predominantly Catholic community of Drogheda worships:

At home we are very loud, play drums, sing loud, pray loud, but in Catholic society where it is quiet, prayers are done quietly, so we need to adjust a little bit to this society, to this community.The theme of needing to understand one anoth-er’s culture is further advanced by Church worker Aderire Ademokun who believes that the setting up

of an African club in Drogheda would be a positive thing “so that Irish people can come and…so they can see the way we behave.” While having no doubt that integration and acceptance will eventually be achieved, both Aderire and Pastor Adewale acknowl-edge that there is still some way to go. Although their experience of living in Drogheda has been largely a positive one, nonetheless, there have been some negative incidents. Aderire works as a taxi driver and recalls how on occasion while working in Drogheda, a minority of people passed him by in the queue in order to hire a taxi being driven by a driver perceived to be Irish. This behaviour prompted him to work in Dublin where he believes the people have more experience of interacting with different cultures.

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Pastor Adewale Adeoti



Pastor Adewale offers a possible reason as to why a minority of people find it difficult to embrace people of different cultures. He believes that unlike the United Kingdom or America which have been receiving immigrants for hundreds of years, his community has been in Ireland a relatively short time, “twelve to fifteen years.” He feels that because of this “it is a normal thing that their arrival is going to be strange to some people.” However, he has no doubt that their children will play a big part in both Drogheda and Ireland becoming a multicultural society in the future. He strongly believes that their

children will grow up in Ireland and have their own children and that “in the nearest future it’s going to be a multicultural society.” With regard to the current economic recession being experienced in Ireland, he feels that it is bound to affect people’s morale and impact on their attendance at church as they are forced to do extra jobs or migrate in order to survive. Pastor Adewale feels that once the recession is over people will return to the church in their numbers. He adds that this is something they are praying for.

10th Anniversary, Celebration Event Committee at RCCG – Sanctuary for all Nations

6The Redeemed Christian Church of God, ‘Our History’, (The Redeemed Christian Church of God 2013, c.2013) [online] <http://rccg.org/index.php/about-us-2/history/>

7Andrew Rice, ‘Mission from Africa’, New York Times Magazine (April 8th, 2009) [online] <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/magzine/12churches-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>

astor Kayode Popoola administers a Pentecostal church, the Seat of Mercy parish of Redeemed Christian Church of God in Drogheda. He is married with three children and has lived in Ireland since 2002 and in Drogheda since 2006. He was born in Lagos, Nigeria and combines his job as a chartered accountant with his church duties. Pastor Kayode was educated in an Irish school in Nigeria and this gave him an early insight into Irish culture. Speaking about the influence of Irish culture on his country of birth he explains “they brought in Christianity on one hand and education on the other… they were able to influence the culture of my people.”

On the subject of acceptance which is a key factor in promoting community integration, Pastor Kayode believes that there is still room for progress, especial-ly in relation to the workplace. He explains that be-cause of his faith there are certain traditions that he must uphold. He hopes that people will understand this and goes on to say that “because of such things, don’t see me as an outcast, because you don’t attend my Church… I would not see you as an outcast.”

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Pastor Kayode is now hopeful that people from the wider Drogheda community will take the opportu-nity to experience his church and culture and notes that some progress has already been made in this area. Church member Irene Ezindu has been in Ire-land since 1998 and brings an Irish friend with her to church every Sunday. She notes that “it makes me very, very happy you know? He loves the music, he loves the choir, he loves the way we sing… and that’s great because it’s something just different.”



However, Pastor Kayode is keen to stress that he feels “really accepted” by the wider community.

Irene recalls how in the past she has been verbally abused and how her children have experienced bullying at school. “I’ve been called the ‘N’ word name… they’ve been called the ‘N’ word but you get it everywhere, it’s not because it’s Ireland but you get it everywhere in every other country.” Irene is optimistic for the future and feels that the Irish people are now more open-minded: “[T]hey’re now accepting us and there’s interracial marriage so it’s really making us, you know, kind of bind together. So yeah… it’s getting there, we’re getting there.”Despite some negative incidents Pastor Kayode predicts that one day Ireland will become a multicul-tural society and that is what he is “living to see.”

I’m looking at a time that irrespective of where you are from you can say ...“Oh Ireland is my home” irrespective of your race, creed, belief “Ireland is my home”. That’s my hope. He believes that togetherness can be achieved through educating one another on the “importance of unity.” When this is achieved he feels that “we will be able to foster our relationship such that is built on mutual trust and respect for one and to one another, on the love of Jesus Christ… that will integrate the minor community into the larger community.”

This process has already begun through his children as he explains, “I see them becoming - developing as Irish and having [a] total Irish mentality.” Irene be-lieves that this is also true of her children and states that “they are already Irish to be honest, they are because… all their friends are Irish and they love… their teachers, they love the school… so they’re really blending in.” Pastor Popoola feels in relation to his children and the Irish education system that “academically they are balanced, and they are set” and also that for them “the sky is the beginning, not the limit.”

ehovah’s Witnesses are a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The tradition of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a religion grew from the Christian Millerite movement of the late 19th century in the USA and was initially guided by the teachings of Charles Taze Russell. In 1931, under the leadership of Joseph Franklin Rutherford, the movement was formally named as Jehovah’s Witnesses. It developed an infrastructure as an organised faith and is now a global religion.

Europe who have arrived in Drogheda over the past fifteen years. Colin notes that while many were Jehovah’s Witness-es before their arrival in Ireland, “some also would have found an interest since they’ve moved there.” The Jehovah’s Witnesses worldwide website provides a database of global congregations which makes it easy for people to connect with a congregation upon moving to a new country. This is how one female Witness and her family connected with the group in 2000 when they moved to Drogheda from South Africa. Indeed, the Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Drogheda provided her and her family with the support that helped them to settle in when they first arrived. As the Jehovah’s Witnesses are such a global network, it was easy for her to “adjust and to slot in.” She notes she was fifteen when she first arrived in Drogheda and felt welcomed in her new school. Having come from a country with a long standing racial di-vide, she was at first apprehensive about the move, but found Irish society “actually really friendly.” She believes that over the past decade Irish people have become much more aware of different nationalities and also that Drogheda has become more multicultural since she first arrived. On the issue of the recession, she believes that people need to get back to being “satisfied with the simpler things and then slowly we’d be able to rebuild from the recession.”

Colin explains that Witnesses prefer to put spiritual things before material and focusing on the family is part of putting spiritual things first. This is demonstrated by how they refer to each other as ‘Brother’ or ‘Sister’ which is an expression of their closeness to each other in Faith; and also through their extended generosity to the wider community to whom they bring messages of good news. As Colin succinctly puts it, there are often times when “good news is difficult to find in the world.”

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Jehovah’s Witnesses come from all types of backgrounds and ethnic groups. Indeed, their Bible and literature has been translated into 595 languages. Witnesses are represented by a ‘Body of Elders’ rather than a singular leader and they strongly participate in door-to-door evangelism. Colin Churchill is an established Witness in Drogheda and notes that there was a presence of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Drogheda area during the mid-1930s, and a more identifiable existence of a continuous community since the 1950s. Ac-cording to Colin, Joe Ledwidge, the brother of famous poet Francis Ledwidge, became one of the first Witnesses from the area, in 1935. Joe was a court clerk in Navan and lived at Main Street, Slane, until his death in 1981. In the beginning, Joe travelled to Dublin to attend meetings and services as it was not until the 1950s that a small group of missionaries established a Jehovah’s Witnesses base in Drogheda. From the 1950s to 1974 the Jehovah’s Witnesses of Drogheda and its environs held meetings upstairs in a premises at 17 West Street. Joe Ledwidge was a familiar face there, and the build-ing also doubled as a home in which some missionaries lived. Colin continues that the Jehovah’s Witnesses congregation in Drogheda “began to grow and flourish” from the 1970s and in 1974 they moved to 40 West Street above Arrow Tours. They moved to their current premises in Barrack Street in 1982 and held an official dedication, attended by the Mayor of Drogheda at the time, the late Michael Bell.

During the past thirty years the congregation has grown steadily and Colin adds that they are presently looking for a site on which to build a new Kingdom Hall in order to accommodate the growing number of members.Kingdom Hall in Barrack Street has been the port of wel-come for a growing number of immigrants from Africa and

8JW.ORG – (Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, c.2013) [online]: <http://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/>


astor Iyke Chukwunwejim worked with several ministries before becoming pioneer and presiding Pastor of the Pentecostal Trophies of Christ Victory Church in Drogheda. Pastor Iyke is a seasoned international speaker who has spread the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ among many nations. His ministrations have brought salvation, deliverance, healing, hope and restoration to many people around the world. He is happily married to Christina and they have three children, Honey, Angel and Sunshine.

Her family arrived in Ireland in 1999 although not as asylum seekers, a label which she believes is some-times misused by the minority, but rather to take up a job in IT with a company based in Bray, Co. Wicklow. Olayinka states: “I’m one of those people who can proudly say we have contributed our quota to the economy of this country.”

Irish culture was not a totally new experience for Olayinka because as a child in Nigeria she was educated by Irish nuns. Her father was Catholic and as a young girl she used to attend Mass. She notes: “We have a lot to thank Irish Missionaries for; especially the Sisters of Mercy and Christian Brothers who turned up in Africa, and endured the mosquitoes.” Olayinka has had a lot of trauma in her life; as a young woman she witnessed the deaths of her two young cousins from Sickle Cell disease. She also suffered the loss of one of her best friends to breast cancer, a tragic event that brought about her strong interest in Holistic and Complimentary Therapies. Olayinka notes that she is a survivor of a physically, financially and emotionally abusive marriage. She adds that her ex-husband was the sole holder of the Irish work permit and that she had to make representations to the Irish Minister for Justice in order to remain in the country with her son. After due process, she was eventually given permission to remain in Ireland on humanitarian grounds. With the support of her faith and many people within the Christian community, Yinka raised her young son, Oluwatobi Agunbiade-Kaye (also known as Tobi Kaye), who is now 26 years old and works as a Computer Software Developer. Her story is one

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He is proud to say that his children are “serving their generation by the word of God.”

Princess Olayinka Dixon Oludaiye is a trained Pastor and proud member of the church. Olayinka comes from royal heritage on her father’s side and her royal roots can be traced back to Western Nigeria.

Pastor Iyke Chukwunwejim


of immense fortitude and unrelenting faith in her religion.

Olayinka is a classic example to all in the Drogheda community of the concept of ‘active citizenship.’ In 2009, she was the first migrant to run for election in both the Louth County Council and Drogheda Borough elections. She describes it as a “learning experience to see if it was possible to influence change.” Overall, she believes that the experience was a positive one declaring that “Every door that I knocked opened for me in Drogheda.”

She is pro-active in advancing the community integration process and believes that “if you live in a place for more than two months and your neigh-bours don’t know you, then you haven’t done some-thing that you should be doing.” Olayinka’s unique life experiences have qualified her to help people. She is the Outreach Coordinator for Living Waters House Ministries which runs orphanages in East-ern Nigeria. She is also a trained and experienced Emotional Health Therapist and Holistic Practi-tioner, supporting children and families that may be traumatised or grieving through loss or breakdown of relationships.

Within the Drogheda area, she devotes a lot of time to helping people through counselling seminars and workshops which help participants to “get the balance back into their lives.” Speaking about the Irish economy and the global recession, Olayinka explains “we believe strongly that God will intervene and things will be better for this country and for the people of this country.” She adds: “We pray for this every day.” Pastor Iyke also makes this a point of focus and prayer for the Trophies of Christ Victory congregation.

Princess Olayinka Dixon Oludaiye



Drogheda Masjid he Islamic Foundation of Drogheda represents approximately 700 Muslims from Drogheda and its surrounding area. The Drogheda Masjid (Mosque) on Windmill Road provides the Muslim community with a place to congregate for daily prayers, Friday sermons and other important religious events such as Ramadan and Eid. It also caters for the religious educational needs of the community.

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who also worked at the hospital. He felt that since Drogheda was to become his home, “maybe it’s my responsibility as well ... that I should be proactive.” He became involved with developing the Islamic Foundation which has welcomed many Muslims who have moved to the Drogheda area.

Dr. Jamal Nasser is the general secretary of the Is-lamic Foundation in Drogheda. He came to Droghe-da in 1995 and works as an Orthopaedic consultant at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. He was born in Lahore, Pakistan and is married with four children. Following his arrival in Drogheda he came into con-tact with a small group of Muslims, mostly doctors,

throughout the years. He believes that the Masjid is a strong support for the community as “it binds people together.” Dr. Rauf was also involved in the Islamic Open Day, engaging in local radio and newspaper interviews in order to help the wider community to get to know them better. In the future, the Founda-tion would like to move to a bigger property which would enable it to open a library and invite others to come and learn about their Muslim neighbours.

Dr. Rauf ’s children are in Educate Together schools which allows them to socialise with other children of different faiths. He sees a role for State bodies in fostering inter-religious cultural activities. Since the recession he has not noticed any tension between members of the Masjid and the wider community but has, as a community doctor, seen its effects on Irish society. The Drogheda Masjid has put down strong roots in the local community and is waiting with a warm welcome for those who wish to experi-ence and understand the Islamic faith.

The membership of the Masjid reflects the multi-cultural and multi-ethnic composition of Islam and has members from North Africa, East Africa and the Middle East. The Foundation is keen to have stron-ger ties with the wider Irish community and has held an Islamic Open Day to inform the broader public about its community and faith. They also have a website (www.ifdrogheda.com) which details the history and the activities of the Drogheda Masjid. Dr. Nasser is conscious of Muslim stereotyping and puts forward his hope that people can learn more about the vast majority of Muslims who reject the acts of a few. As part of their work, they want to counteract the negative perception of Islam that they believe has emerged in recent years. He speaks candidly about his group’s responsibility regarding the process of community integration by stating that “as a group, they need to learn their obligations as a minority community when relating to Irish society.” His involvement in the Masjid is a very valued part of his life and he feels that it benefits the community at large; he compares it to planting a tree, as it grows it benefits the wider community with shade and food. Dr. Nasser tries to instil his religious values in his children. They are in the Irish education system but the Foundation helps educate them in Islam be-fore they enter state schools. He hopes in the future that Islamic religious instruction can become more available; at the moment it is difficult because of the small size of the community.

Dr Abdul Rauf is an active member of the Masjid and part of Dr. Nasser’s development team. He has organised fundraising in order to purchase the property for the Masjid and also organises social gatherings for the Muslim community. He is a medical doctor and is married with three children, two boys and one girl. He was born in Pakistan and worked in various parts of Ireland before coming to Drogheda in 2005. He has been involved in develop-ing the Masjid community and has watched it grow



rounded in the Pentecostal ethos, the Joy Christian Chapel International was founded in 2006 by Pastor Thomas Sackey. The Pentecostal faith pertains to the various Christian groups that emphasise the activity of the Holy Spirit, stress the holiness of living, and express their religious feelings uninhibitedly.

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Pastor Thomas was born in Ghana and resided in Hol-land for a time before arriving in Ireland in 2005 with his wife and their three children. Upon arrival, he connected with fellow immigrants through the churches that were being formed in Drogheda at that time. In 2006, he estab-lished his church and organised ‘Fellowship of Prayer’ meetings at which they would “Share the word of God.”

Pastor Thomas would like to see more Irish people join-ing his church and is aware of the different way in which the Irish community worships God. He has noticed how his congregation is more vocal in their prayers and is conscious of the fact that “worship in Ireland tends to be a bit quieter.” He believes that “appreciation of the differ-ent ways of worshipping God can help to integrate both communities.” For Pastor Thomas, future integration and understanding of diversity will be achieved through children. He reflects on how his older children struggled to integrate with the new culture when first arriving in

Ireland and how this contrasts with his youngest son who has had “a very positive experience.”Congregation member Nkechi Oduah is originally from the Igbo community in Nigeria and has lived in Drogheda since 2008. A friend introduced her to the Joy Christian Chapel International and this affirmed her choice of Drogheda as a place to live. Membership of the church has been a very strong support for her since she arrived in Drogheda and she regards her church friends as her extended family. Her two children were born here and she has noticed how they have developed Irish accents and how they call their aunts by their first names. She explains how this is very different to Nigeria where elders are addressed in a more formal manner. For Nkechi, the blending of cultures is uncomfortable. She believes that her children are “becoming Irish” and that while she tries to give them a sense of her own culture, she recognises that “this is their land.” Her hope is that they will receive a blend of both cultures. She finds school a very positive place for her son and says he makes friends easily, “because he was born here”.

Mary Esanbor is a Pastor in the church and was born in Nigeria. It was the strong history of Irish Christian ethos that attracted her to Ireland. Four of her five children were born in Ireland, with her eldest child born in Ni-geria. When she initially arrived in Ireland her daughter remained in Nigeria with Mary’s parents for a year while she and her husband built their home. Upon arrival in Drogheda, she found that there was a strong Nigerian community already established. Because of her strong Christian faith she found that integrating with the entire Drogheda community “came easily.” Pastor Mary comes from a religious family; her grandfather is a Pastor and her father is a Knight in the Anglican Order. She is ac-

Pastor Thomas Sackey and Pastor Mary Esabor

tively involved in building up the church in Drogheda and she too recognises that the means of worship is different here. She believes that tolerance of these differences is part of her experience of living in Ireland. Her impres-sion of Ireland is that it is a welcoming country:

“Everywhere I go I see people smiling at me, you know, saying hello.” Her hope is that the Irish people will even-

tually come to understand her culture: “[I]f we have this mutual respect between the two cultures and if we can be patient, we can learn from each other.” The Joy Chris-tian Chapel International under the guidance of Pastor Thomas Sackey and Pastor Mary Esanbor stands ready to welcome all members of the community to experience their Church.

Joy Christian Chapel International on Retreat in Carlingford, Co. Louth.



o many, Buddhism goes beyond religion and is more of a philosophy or ‘way of life.’ The Lung Ying Shaolin Buddhist Temple is a traditional Buddhist Temple situated between Newgrange Interpretive Centre and Slane, Co. Meath. Under the leadership and guidance of its founder Nicholas Costello, it

teaches the traditional Shaolin arts of Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Chi Gung and meditation using Buddhist phi-losophy. Nick began his study of Shaolin Buddhism as a young man, having previously rejected boxing,

karate and judo for being aggressive and violent.

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Lung Ying Shaolin Buddhist Temple

The dragon is but the movement of the energy, it’s not the energy itself, but part of it.” Along with Kung Fu, the teaching of Tai Chi and Meditation also play a prominent role in the daily life of the Temple. People from all religious and cultural backgrounds attend for a variety of reasons, from spiritual wellbeing and relaxation to exercise and fitness. Although taught through a Shaolin Buddhist philosophy, it is compatible with all religious beliefs and as such plays a key role in integrating the local community. Nick explains, “we have students here of all beliefs” and he sees Buddhism as a way of life rather than a belief system.

The Lung Ying Shaolin Buddhist Temple is engaged in many charitable activities within the community, supporting the Special Olympics Ireland, SOSAD, Down Syndrome Ireland, Gary Kelly Centre Drogheda and the Irish Wheelchair Association, not to mention other nonprofits concerned with autism, fibromyalgia and breast cancer. The temple offers assistance when needed and helps to provide much needed tools for self-healing, staying true to the original Shaolin philosophy.

Non-violence is essential to traditional Shaolin teaching and Nick recalls, “I went around looking at karate clubs and judo clubs, found that they were doing exactly the same thing, just hurting people and I didn’t want that.”

He was eventually introduced to a Kung Fu mas-ter by a Chinese friend and following study with Master KC Tsung in London, he went to Hong Kong where he undertook further study under the guidance of Si gung’ (Grandmaster) Chiu Chung. Nick still visits both London and Hong Kong on a regular basis for guidance and training. He opened his first school in Dublin in 1979 and later spent three years in Laytown, Co. Meath. He finally established the Lung Ying Shaolin Buddhist Temple in 1996.

The core principle of the Lung Ying Temple is to teach empowerment and spiritual healing through Dragon Kung Fu. Dragon Kung Fu was the first Kung Fu invented by the Shaolin Monks and its origins lie in helping them to meditate and heighten their senses. The dragon represents the movement of energy throughout the universe. Nick explains “there’s Kung Fu in everything, it’s the way you do things.” The Kwan-Gung is the god of Kung Fu; he also represents society and leadership. The Buddha represents the ‘higher self ’ that is inside all of us and means the ‘en-lightened one’ or to be enlightened. The dragon is the movement of energy and while all things move in balance, there is also some imbalance. The practice of Chi-Gung is a way to ensure that balance is restored. Students initially learn about the entities of the Dragon, the Buddha and the Chi-Gung before moving to massage and healing techniques. According to Nick “the dragon rep-resents the movement of energy and of all nature; it also represents the universe in nature.


he Voice of Victory International Church is a ‘Bible Believers Church’ officially founded in Drogheda by Pastor Stephen and Apostle Stephanie Ojo in 2007. They arrived in Ireland in March 2004 accompanied by their five children. Pastor Ste-phen was born into a Roman Catholic family of nine children in Nigeria in 1958. His father, Thomas, was a committee member who helped grow the Catholic Church in Nigeria and West Africa. He fondly acknowledges the early influence of Irish mission-ary priest Fr. Kinsella from Limerick on his early life. Referring to his time in secondary school in Nigeria, he recalls:

his church welcomes and embraces people of all cultures and from all walks of life. He believes that his church will grow naturally through a process of evangelisation which promotes a shared love of God. On the subject of integra-tion, he believes that this may be a slow process as Irish fam-ilies and communities tend to interact more in social settings while the church community interacts mainly through their “religious activities and life experiences.” An example of this is their Sunday service which can last up to three hours:

We enjoy ourselves from the beginning to the end, we do singing and dancing, Bible reading, we do a lot of clapping, we share testimonies to encourage other believers according to the Bible in Rev 12:11, and then we preach and finish up with songs and prayers.

Pastor Stephen is a strong advocate of integration and believes it possible that all cultures in Drogheda can peace-fully co-exist in the spirit of mutual respect. As a former professional soccer player he strongly believes that sport, and in particular soccer, has the potential to bring communities together. He has organised several sporting events for the young people of Drogheda and believes that “people like sport because it helps them to develop and integrate their children into the community.”

Twenty year old church member Samuel Michaels was born in Ireland and has always loved Drogheda. Samuel recalls that he grew up with friends of all nationalities and notes that “I haven’t always been accepted, but I still consider Drogheda home no matter where I go.” Samuel attends college in Galway and in his spare time comes home

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“I decided to change my ways to follow the Lord and I gave my life to the Pentecostal faith.”

Apostle Stephanie was raised in a Methodist family and attended an Irish school in Nigeria. She recollects how the Reverend Sisters treated her with love and compassion. For her, the move to Ireland was a natural one: “[F]inally I came to the place where I had always wanted to come.” On the theme of integration, Apostle Stephanie believes that: You must take the culture of where you’re going on board and try to see how you can balance it, because you have to learn from them and they have to learn from you, it’s not something you can force on one another.

Apostle Stephanie and Pastor Stephen are Dutch citizens, having spent seventeen years in Holland doing the ‘Lord’s work.’ The family relocated from Holland to Ireland in 2004 and following a journey of discovery “as instructed by the Lord” along the east coast, decided that Drogheda was where they were being called to live. Pastor Stephen believes that the name Drogheda was prophetic as it means ‘bridge’ and offered them the opportunity to “build a bridge that would allow all Christians in the area to join together as one family.”

When the Ojo family first arrived in Drogheda, they did not know anyone. They acknowledge the kind assistance of Fr. David Bradley who helped them to rent a local community centre at the Holy Family Church, Ballsgrove Drogheda where they began their fellowship. Initially there were seven families involved, some of whom were African, and others who were nationalised Dutch. Pastor Stephen stresses that


but that his children do. He believes that his children, as the second generation, are preparing the way for the third who he believes will probably be ‘real Irish’ and will “carry things on to a new dimension.” On the subject of the current eco-nomic recession and its effects on society, Apostle Stephanie relates that coming from Africa they have experienced reces-sion and simply cut everything that is not necessary: “[W]e cut it and we go on with important things.” Pastor Stephen believes that the key to future prosperity lies in education. He believes that young people in particular should not be reliant on Social Welfare and that it should be a government priority to promote education in preparation for tomorrow. The Voice of Victory International Church is praying for a bright future for everyone and stands determined to play its part in bringing about its arrival.

to help out with ‘Eagles Wings’. Eagles Wings Youth Club is an arm of the church and pursues a vision of bridging inte-gration. Pastor Stephen believes that it is “hard to find a safe, wholesome place to entertain kids for several hours” and explains that Eagles Wings was set up to provide an avenue for the youth regardless of background, age, nationality and religion. All members of Eagles Wings are expected to set a good example and also to help maintain an atmosphere that is supportive of learning. They are also encouraged to demonstrate courtesy and mutual respect; qualities that Pastor Stephen believes are linked and mutually empower-ing objectives.

Regarding the influence of Irish school education on their children, Pastor Stephen acknowledges that he, as the first of his generation does not understand the Irish language

Pastor Stephen Ojo and Apostle Stephanie Ojo



he Solid Rock Church, known as ‘Ireland’s Multicultural Church’ is grounded in Pentecostalism and was founded in 1994 by Pastor Nick Park and his wife Janice. Both Nick and Janice serve as Pastors in the church. In the early stages of Solid Rock’s creation, fellow Christians Agnes and Noel Joyce offered the basement of their family business in Drogheda for use as a church.

Mary likes simplicity, she notes: “I don’t pray for a big house… all I need is a place of worship… where I can serve God and… be able to live with my family.” Upon arrival in Ireland the Oki’s old-est daughter was relieved to discover that corporal punishment does not exist in Irish schools. The Oki children all enjoyed school, worked hard, did well in their exams and integrated easily into the community. Their oldest daughter is now leading a Church Choir in Castlebar, Co Mayo where she attends college.

Referring to their first visit to Solid Rock Church, Tunde simply states that “we found love.” He feels that the Solid Rock Church community is more or less similar to that back home in Nigeria. In sharing his personal background, he reveals “[B]ack home in Nigeria I was born into a Mus-lim family so I became Christian then about 22 years ago.”

He also notes that for him there is “no going back.” Both Mary and Tunde have been effective in influencing other people to join the church, hence they are recognised as evangelist pastors. Tunde explains how the new members don’t want to just sit and listen in Church, but “want to dance… praise God… and experience something new.”

Their church community has good relations with other religious and immigrant groups, for example, The Light of Grace Fellowship, The Redeemed Christian Church of God and

Solid Rock Church of GodT

Part of the concrete floor in the basement was uneven and Noel informed them that “there was an ancient bricked-up well on that spot.” An old plaque on the wall outside revealed that ‘at a well near that spot, St Patrick baptised the first Christians in Drogheda in 443AD.’ Upon this re-alisation, Nick revealed “I felt as if I was standing on holy ground.” For Nick the revelation was re-assuring, especially since at that time his congre-gation were few in numbers. However, Solid Rock Church continued to grow and later moved to its current, larger premises on Ballymakenny Road, Drogheda. A second venue for the Church then followed and is situated in the Donore Business Park, Drogheda.

Two devoted members and Pastors of Solid Rock Church are Mary Bisola Oki and her husband Babatunde (Tunde) Oki, who were both born in Yoruba, Western Nigeria. The couple have four children. On arrival in Ireland in 2000 they had two of their children with them, as one remained in the UK to study and their fourth child was born later in Ireland.

The Oki family initially arrived at Rosslare before travelling to Dublin. Within two weeks they were informed that they would be moved to Drogheda and Mary adds “we had a warm welcome.” Three days after arriving in Drogheda and with the help of their Irish landlady the family located Solid Rock Church. Mary recalls feeling “Okay, any-where you are taking us to; I know God is with us, our Lord is with us.”

9Nick Park, ‘From Touching Rock Bottom to Touching the Nations’, (Success Services Ireland, 2011), p.115.10Ibid, p.115.11Ibid, p116.

Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministry. Overall, Mary and Tunde believe that Ireland is becoming more multicultural.

Tunde feels that the recession has been hard on some families and believes “we have to be posi-

tive and optimistic” in order to stimulate things to get better. He recounts that “according to the word of God”, Abraham was instructed “to leave his kindred and go to the land of Canaan” and concludes by saying that “God brought us here to be blessed and be a blessing to others.”



he Bahá’í Faith is an independent global religion founded on the eternal spiritual principles common to all major world belief systems and is not a sect or branch of any other faith. The word Bahá’í identifies both the Baháí Faith and its followers. It was founded by Bahá’u’lláh in Persia, now Iran, in 1863 and has between five and six million followers worldwide. It is cited as being the second most geographically widespread religion after Christianity and as being the largest religious faith ‘without rites.’

Since its foundation it has endured continued persecution in Iran despite condemnation from the United Nations and many world governments, including Ireland. In 1985, the town of Drogheda warmly welcomed and embraced a young UN-recognised refugee named Parviz Roshan who had fled Iranian persecution; Parviz lived happily in the town until 1989 when he left to get married. The Drogheda Bahá’í community was established in the early 1970s and its members originate from the town itself, from other parts of Ireland and from overseas. The community functions as a group and meetings of a spiritual and devotional nature are held regularly in one another’s homes. Bahá’ís, are recognised by international institutions as positive participants in the effort to increase the wellbeing of all citizens. This was referred to by President Mary McAleese when paying an official visit to the Bahá’í Centre, Dublin on 30 April 2010.

The Drogheda group remains actively engaged in working with like-minded bodies and individuals in order to help build a strong and active local community.

Drogheda Bahá’í CommunityT

Bahá’ís welcome the opportunity to engage in inter-faith activities and promote the principle that “[t]he earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.” They believe that the purpose of religion is the promotion of ‘concord,’ or harmony and agreement. For the Bahá’ís, divine revelation is a progressive process and the ‘messengers of God’ instigate successive stages in the spiritual evolution of society. Social principles are based on the essential “oneness of humanity” , a concept which is also at the heart of promoting community integration.

Drogheda Bahá’í Community

12 �e Bahá’í Faith Website, (Bahá’í International Community, c.2013) [online] <http://www.bahai.org/>13�e Bahá’í s, ‘�e Oneness of Humanity’, (A Pro�le of the Bahá’í Faith and its Worldwide Community, c.1997 www.bahai.com) < http://www.bahai.com/thebahais/pg26b.htm>

he Root of David was established in 2007 as an “interdenominational and multicultural body of believers.” Pastor Kolawole Adeneye is more affectionately known as Pastor Kola, and is the founding member of The Root of David Pentecostal church in Drogheda. He is married to Margaret and combines his job at Microsoft Ireland with his work as Pastor.

through the use of seminars. This theme is support-ed by Pastor Kola, who feels that the government should incorporate education of other cultures into the education system in order to foster an under-standing of diversity. He believes that this would bring “spiritual benefits and all the financial benefits that comes with the integration and retention of people.”

The Root of DavidT

Pastor Kola was born in Lagos Nigeria and raised in a disciplined religious Methodist family. Before attending university in Lagos he became a member of The Foursquare Gospel Church and it was there that he trained to become a Pastor. Following his arrival in Drogheda in 2005 to join up with family members, he felt the inspiration to start his Church. He and Margaret prayed for guidance and also consulted with the Foursquare Gospel Church back in Nigeria which reminded him:

Pastor, you told us many years ago that God gave you a vision about a Church called The Root of David, we believe that this may be the place that God has brought you.

The church has grown in strength since its inception and although it has some Irish members, it is keen to attract more. Pastor Kola explains: “[W]e look forward to actually having Irish take over leadership and continue the work as it were, so that we can reach more of the Irish community.”

Pastor Kola feels accepted in Drogheda, but ac-knowledges that some of his congregation have not always felt the same way. Church member Kehinde Raji arrived in Ireland with his sister and twin broth-er in 2000. He recalls being attacked in 2001 and on another occasion being treated very dispassionately while applying for a college course. However, his de-termination has seen him overcome these upsetting events and he is currently a mature student studying Communications and Creative Media at DKIT. Kehinde feels that a lot more awareness and under-standing in the Irish community could be fostered Pastor Kolawole Adeneye


The Root of David is playing its part towards integration and, according to Pastor Kola, already has representa-tives from eleven nationalities, including Ireland, Spain, Poland and other Eastern European countries.

One notable change that Pastor Kola reveals since arriving in Ireland is his new role as a man in the home. He is proud to help out with the domestic chores and explains, “I want my children to see me and my wife working as a team”; he also feels that it helps him to bond with his children. Pastor Kola sees his children adopting a definite

amount of Irish culture and notes “actually that’s been a big challenge for us, for most of us who came here as mature individuals, who were brought up with African values, to see our children adopting Irish values.” Howev-er, he is happy to compromise as he believes that “sooner or later they will pick up at least a little part of our own

culture.” Kehinde can see a strong Irish influence on his four year old daughter: “Definitely, even the way she speaks, you know, I think her approach and manners are more of Irish people, I’m happy, because I’m happy for her to learn different cultures.” On the subject of the effects of the current economic recession, Pastor Kola adds:

I make contact with as many as possible, to see how people can take up temporary jobs, volunteer here and

there, the Homeless Aid is very close to us here and have offered us a volunteering position for a member, just to

keep them mentally alert.

The Root of David Church is playing an active part in promoting the wellbeing of the community and is praying for the future.

The Root of David, ‘Home’ <http://www.therootofdavid.net/>



The second part of this book highlighted and embraced the religious and cultural diversity prevalent in the Drogheda area. The concept of Religious and Cultural integration was examined, with many participants putting forward their views on how they believe the

Drogheda community can best progress together towards a better and more inclusive future. The History of Religious and Cultural Integration project is unique to Drogheda and its envi-rons and is informative, relevant and contemporary. Because of its contemporaneous nature it would have been remiss not to chronicle the thoughts of Fr. Iggy O’Donovan, the well known Augustinian priest who was coincidentally preparing to leave Drogheda just as the HORCID

project was reaching fruition. Fr. Iggy has a long standing affinity with the town and is held in high regard throughout the Drogheda community. His typically honest and outspoken views are highly significant and informative, particularly when examining the concept of religious

and cultural integration in the Drogheda area.

Danny Carr, October 2013

r. Iggy O’Donovan was born in the “beautifully named” Glen of Aherlow in County Tipperary. He is the third from last born in a family of ten children. He first felt called to religious life at the age of seventeen and attributes his calling to an encounter with some Augustinian foreign missioners. He explains that “my initial attraction to the Augustinians actually was to be an Augustinian missioner in Africa, incidentally, something I’ve never done.”

The suicide prevention group SOSAD is particu-larly close to FR. Iggy’s heart and he describes it as “possibly the greatest organisation with which I’ve ever been involved.” Having lost a brother to suicide, he is acutely aware of the vital role that SOSAD plays and he reflects on how their annual service is “possibly the largest religious event in Drogheda in the year, which unfortunately, tells you the size of the problem.” SOSAD has been a great support to him in his work as a priest and he explains this in his own inimitable way: “The beauty of an organisation like SOSAD and the volunteers who are with them is that when you meet a person who is distressed in life, maybe a minor distress, but can be the early indications of a problem, it’s great to be able to pass on a number, pass on a name and say contact this person, contact that number, that they don’t walk out the door here having listened to some pious cliché from me.”

Fr Iggy left Drogheda in 1997 before returning in 2006 at the height of the Celtic Tiger boom. He has some interesting observations on how things had changed in the interim for both the town and the church. In relation to the town he recalls how the old Drogheda skyline of church towers had been replaced by shopping centres which he describes as “the new temples of worship.” He explains that “[I] could see Scotch Hall, then you look up across to the Laurence Centre, all these are dominating the town now. It wasn’t the city of churches any

Fr. Iggy O’DonovanF

Fr. Iggy recalls how following his novitiate year the Augustinians gave him the opportunity to go to UCD for three years where he completed a BA in history and politics. He is the only member of his family ever to go to university and whilst there he became actively involved in student politics and in groups such as Amnesty International. He explains that the experience of being involved with these groups is “something that always stayed with me ever since.” He went on to study theology at the Augustinian seminary in Rome for the next five years and in 1983 he was ordained. He first came to Drogheda in 1993 and stayed until 1997 before moving away to “teach and to carry out other work.” He returned to Drogheda in 2006 and although his relationship with some elements of the church hierarchy has at times been an uneasy one, his relationship with the people of Drogheda has been one of mutual respect and admiration.

Fr. Iggy recalls that when he arrived in Drogheda in 1993 it took him about a year to “break through to Drogheda and get to know the people.” He had been used to a more structured routine in his post as a teacher and it took him a while to settle into the more unpredictable role of parish work. He made it a priority to get to know his community and did so by “mixing with ordinary people, about two-thirds of whom would never be in church.” He built up a relationship with the schools; particularly Our Lady’s College, Greenhills and also became in-volved with historical societies.


groups are “more vibrant, more vivacious” and once again his candor comes to the fore as he states “Hardly anything can be duller than most of our services.” However, he believes that despite this, the Catholic mass “has potential” which he sees coming through in the folk masses, which he explains “go back in the Augustinians a long time now.” He reflects on his final mass in the town and how the potential was there for all to see, when you look at the vibrancy and the vivacious-ness and the talent of the young Drogs who came in here and contributed to it, there certainly is huge potential to bring it more alive and there’s still plenty of potential for the traditional one as well, for those who want it, but you need both.”

Fr Iggy’s final mass in the town was attended by members of many different groups such as the Muslim and Bahá’í communities which is testa-ment to his ability to engage with all members of society. He states in relation to these groups that “I learned from them and I hope they learned something from me.” He would like to see more support for the ecumenical movement from the Catholic Church hierarchy and laments the ending of the annual Greenhills traditional ecumenical gathering which has stopped this year, stating that “in some ways, we’re taking a step backwards.”

Fr. Iggy believes that the ecumenical movement may have been “set back” by the negative re-action of the Catholic hierarchy to his celebra-tion of mass during Easter 2006 with Reverend Michael Graham of the Church of Ireland. He explains that when the Church of Ireland saw a negative reaction coming through they said “‘Oh, so that’s the way they see us, we’re not part.” He refers to the Catholic Church’s pronouncement that both communities can only have Holy Com-munion together once we are all united as “very like telling a patient you can have the medicine

more, that skyline had changed.” He recalls how there was a ‘feel good factor’ at the time and quotes President McAleese’s adage that “a rising tide lifts all boats,” but adds a caveat by saying “some boats were so far up the strand that they couldn’t be lifted.” In relation to the church he recalls how at the time it had become “mired in scandal” which to him meant that there was a “definite feel about things…a definite change.” He explains that the media had become hostile and the public suspicious; but he acknowledges the resolve of the Drogheda public by stating that they “in spite of enormous provocation…have hung in there with remarkable consistency.”

Fr Iggy recalls on his return to Drogheda, being struck by the number of new nationalities and new faiths present in the town. He feels that the Drogheda people have done “reasonably well in welcoming them” explaining that “ours was almost a totally homogenous society, so it hit us quick and sharp and fast, so if you like, it caught us on the hop.” He believes that the integration process was hampered by the end of the Celtic Tiger era and by some public resentment brought about by myths arising from things like “free cars and prams.” He has no doubt that the new ar-rivals have added to the social fabric of the town and speaks about meeting many Muslims and about noticing the growing number of evangelical churches that have “sprung up.” He talks about how fellow Catholics from Africa come to his church and declares that “we’re a pluriform society now and a pluriform society tests to the limit, our ability to see God in religious forms which are not our own.”

Fr. Iggy views the arrival of the many new religious and cultural groups to Drogheda and its environs as a challenge, but also as “a positive thing because we were, in many ways, cultural-ly incestuous.” He believes that other religious



Francis has been “hitting the right notes” by talking a lot recently about careerism and clericalism and explains that “clericalism is where a certain group, mainly priests, see themselves as above and beyond, a type of Praetorian Guard, above and beyond other Christian believers or other ordinary Catholics” and simply adds: “[T]hat is a pet hate of mine.” He hopes that the Catholic Church continues to “adapt and be relevant” and that “our Pope, our Bishops might manage to proclaim the gospel as it was by Christ, not under threats of ex-communication to people, but in what I would say, unity in essentials, liberty in non-essentials and charity in both.”

When asked what he will miss most about Drogheda Fr. Iggy says “[T]he Drogs…the peo-ple.” He implores the people to :

“[K]eep on doing what you’re doing. Drogheda is doing well… Drogheda is a place with a sense of itself. I’m very taken by the fantastic cultural and musical variety and richness that I find round here…Drogheda is greater than the sum of its parts.”

He concludes by saying “[I] hope to come back some day, that’s my hope. We’ll take it as it comes…God bless”

once you are cured.” When asked if the idea of the mass was to promote integration between the two communities he replied “[A]bsolutely, and it wasn’t intended to cause controversy.” Fr. Iggy regrets the fall out that followed the mass say-ing “it hurt me, it hurt other people, it hurt the Augustinians.” However, he believes that the idea was a good one and is fulsome in his praise for Reverend Graham, referring to him as “the great-est priest I know.” Despite the events of 2006 Fr. Iggy believes that,

Catholicism is compatible with modern culture, but it has to be adapted to it. The message of Christ doesn’t change, but the world in which it’s preached is changing all the time and what was relevant in the first century in rural Palestine to the Middle Ages to the famine times in Ireland to Celtic tiger and post Celtic tiger, people, young people ... has to be adapted to be relevant, otherwise the message of the gospel is no more relevant than Jack and The Beanstalk.

When asked about the large numbers that attend his masses, he attributes credit to community effort saying:

“[T]here’s a lot of Drogheda people put effort in, in liturgy, in music, in celebration, I think of the schools, I think of the various organisations in Drogheda who come together here and feel welcome here, that’s why they’re attended well, not because of me.”

Fr. Iggy’s refusal to take credit for the popularity of his masses is typical and he goes on to say that “I’d like to think I would see myself on the same level, if not below some of the people.” He sees a priest’s role as part of a team and explains that it is important to remember that there are all the other players as well who happen to constitute 99.999% of the team.” He refers to how Pope


Rev. John Woodside came to Drogheda in 2003 from Kilkenny Presbyterian church, with a short intervening time in Portrush. In recent decades of declining numbers in congregations

across Christian denominations, the new Presbyterian Church at Colpe East in Drogheda appears to be growing in number and vibrancy. As a long-standing Church in Drogheda,

from the historic base at Palace St., the Presbyterian Church in Drogheda has undergone many changes in recent decades of Drogheda’s history. This gives a long ranging perspective to and

insight into the exploration of Religious and Cultural integration in Drogheda.

Aideen Morrissey November 2013


aving studied at Queens University Belfast, John lectured in agricultural research, in Soil Science before answering a ‘late’ call to the Presbyterian Church at the age of 35. Recalling this time he says...‘It was not an easy decision because I loved my subject and working with students but sensed the call of God over a period of some years and though I tried to hold it at bay, I eventually gave in to what seemed an unknown future and went to Theological college in Belfast at the age of 33.

intertwined. That brought benefits to the church (eg no more persecution) but there was a down-side. Now it was possible to be persecuted for not being a Christian. The church also became tied up in politics. To this day in England for example, the Queen is the nominal Head of the Church of England.

But 1600 years on, the church is rapidly losing the influence it once had in society and we are living in what many are describing as a ‘post-Christian’ society’. There is a strong movement towards secularisation which seeks to move Christian in-fluence from the centre to the margins of society, and from the public to the private realm. So I think the church will have to face the fact that we are going back to something like the situation prior to the 4th century where we have to be the church without assuming the support of the state. We can no longer take for granted that the majority of people hold to a traditional Christian understanding.

The church will have to commend the Gospel, not because it’s the ‘official religion’ but because it is credible; that is because it’s message is true and its members are worthy representatives of the Gospel. We can no longer assume that people will turn up at church because it is there. In many ways it is a more healthy situation, even though the church may have to go through a period of decline in numbers before it can recover. I foresee a day when people will go to church less and less out of tradition and more and more out of conviction.

Rev. John WoodsideH

After theological studies, my first call was to Kilkenny Presbyterian Church, where I spent 18 happy years prior to coming to Drogheda’When recalling what inspired this calling, Rev. Woodside thinks it came about as a progression of the work he was already doing in the church with young people and his teaching profession‘It was as I was trying to communicate the Christian message to young people that I began to feel more and more a sense of call from teach-ing Biology, (which I still loved), to teaching the message of the Bible.’

On taking up the role of minister in Drogheda, John Woodside recalls...‘It was a small congre-gation, maybe 20 to 25 people at worship and I think its not unfair to say probably a bit dis-couraged, because many churches in this part of world were struggling. It can be hard to keep things going, with small numbers. But they were very warm and welcoming people’.

The general trend of secularisation is well recognised in Europe and in Ireland, and on reflecting how this has impacted on the decline in congregation numbers Rev. Woodside adds ‘Ireland is part of the Western world which is experiencing a drift away from what was called Christendom. Prior to the 4th century the first Christians were a persecuted minority but after the Emperor Constantine converted to Christian-ity, it became the favoured religion in the Empire and and so western Europe developed as a Chris-tian civilization where Church and state became

everyone belonged to one tribe or the other, not only in a religious sense but often a political tribe as well. But suddenly the country has opened up to outsiders and there are lots of people who don’t fit into those categories. I think it’s a healthy thing for it has broken through the monolithic understanding of what it means to be Irish and we are now a multi-cultural society. That brings fresh challenges to the Christian church, because we now have other traditions of Christianity as well as non-Christian spiritualities and increasing secularism. But we also have many Christian people coming from across the nations who enrich the Irish churches by their presence.’

‘In our own church from around 2003 we began to see people coming in from Korea, China, Eastern Europe, India and from different African nations. We have over 15 nationalities represented in the congregation at present. They have become fully integrated into the church family and are represented in our leadership.

For example one of our elders is from Nigeria and another from Lithuania. We have had a very happy experience of integration.

And in terms of what may be learned from new communities by the established Churches,‘We all tend to rest on our traditions and expect other people to fit in but the new groups challenge us, first of all by the fact they don’t do things the same way as we do and also because they can bring a life and a vibrancy that traditional churches don’t always have. It is easy for traditional churches to become fossilised in their traditions. Some traditions are good because they are based on the Gospel, and you don’t change those, but others are purely the way we do things, and we need to be open to adapt them for the sake of the gospel. I think everything is up

There are now 200-300 people belonging to the new Presbyterian Church at Colpe. Reflecting on this Rev. Woodside says:

‘We are simply trying to be faithful to the Gos-pel, to teach it, to live it out to the best of our ability, to connect with people in the community and to be welcoming to outsiders. There is no rocket science involved, but I think there are a number of things that are essential for a church to be a church. Firstly the Gospel message must lie at that heart of what we do. It is God’s good news for all people from whatever background they come. I think the second thing is the Gospel community. The Gospel message should produce a gospel community of people who have not only experienced God’s welcome and forgive-ness themselves but reflect it to others.... the two things go together. The third thing I think is prayer, that God the Holy Spirit will do what only He can do, in touching peoples lives. So many people who have come to faith, have come in ways that we could never have anticipated or organised; it seems to be a work of God in their lives.

I recall a time in my own life when God was second hand to me and when my faith became firsthand it wasn’t something I anticipated or was looking for. It came from outside of me. I believe fundamentally it is a work of God and that’s why prayer is important. We are dependent on God to do His work, we’re at best very fallible instruments.’

In welcoming new people to the church, and also in welcoming new people to Ireland Rev. Woodside sees an enrichment of the Presbyterian Church and the community.

‘I suppose for centuries we were seen as a so- called Christian nation and more or less



for negotiation in the church except the Gospel.We ought to be constantly questioning how we do things as we relate to an increasingly secular society, we have to think how can we be where the community is and not expect the community to come to us.’

Regarding the impact of recent economic upheaval in Ireland Rev. Woodside reflects,‘During the years of the Celtic Tiger it was as though ‘man could live by bread alone’. Ireland had been an economically poor country up until the 50’s and suddenly it was booming. Also Ireland had been quite a closed and insular community but now it was opening up to the wid-er world through the European union and so on.

Secular values began to come in and there was an increase in materialism. But suddenly the economic boom has gone and people not only have huge financial challenges to face with negative equity and so on but many are starting to realise that man does not live by bread alone; there is more to life than money and things.

That has brought a spiritual openness that I’ve not seen to the same extent before. Many people are disillusioned with religion as they’ve known it but have not given up on God... If you ask them what they believe they say something like ‘I’m spiritual but not religious’. They don’t belong to any religious group but recognise a spiritual dimension and are seeking to satisfy that aspect of their lives. So I think many people are open again to listen to the claims of the gospel. It is our task to respond to them with freshness and sensitivity.

And in concluding remarks John Woodside says of Drogheda ‘From our perspective we great-ly appreciate the warmth of Drogheda people and would like to feel that they would feel glad that the church is there because it is a place that brings hope and encouragement to them. In a nutshell, I would like the church to be accessible to the community and to enrich it.’


Revd. Graham came to Drogheda just as the impacts of the booming Irish economy was beginning to become apparent in the changes brought to the Irish cultural and physical

landscapes. Soon afterwards in 1999 St Peter’s Church of Ireland was to endure the arson attack which ultimately led in time to its restoration and in many senses also to a newly

defined identity. Having watched over these changes Revd.Graham is in a prime position to lend us the perspective of someone who has at once both witnessed and has been a part of

these changes.

In contributing to this book Revd. Graham is voicing his opinions in a personal capacity and not as representative of the Church of Ireland or of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland Parish.

Aideen Morrissey November 2013


evd.Graham came to be Rector of St. Peter’s Church of Ireland Drogheda, as a relatively late vocation, having trained as an Engineer and worked in Hong Kong, California, Scotland and finally in Galway before becoming an ordained Priest in the Church of Ireland.

where confusion in terminology may often arise. The Church of Ireland is described as being both catholic and Reformed, Revd.Graham explains “catholic in this sense simply means its part of a universal worldwide (church), its catholic with a small ‘c’, which means worldwide, the worldwide church that we are part of. What we are not is Roman Catholic which is… part of the Catholic Church that looks to Rome for its seat of authority, so we are not part of the Roman Catholic Church but we are catholic,…‘we are part of an Anglican Communion, in other words we look to common his-torical roots together, but the Queen is not head of our church. We don’t (have a head of the Church), we have a Primate, who is Primus inter pares, the First Among Equals.

The Archbishop of Armagh historically in Ireland is always the Primate, in Scotland for example the Primate is elected. And in lots of the other Angli-can provinces the Primate is elected from among the Bishops and is simply the spokesperson. The Pri-mate has no authority in the Church of Ireland, the authority resides in the General Synod, which is the meeting, the Parliament if you like of the Church, that’s where we determine Doctrine and other things. We don’t have a written doctrine by the way’. Revd.Graham illustrates this with the saying ‘lex orandi, lex credendi ‘the way we pray is what we believe’, look to our liturgy.’

The issue of Church Doctrines and denominations brings the aftermath of the concelebrated mass in Drogheda in 2006 with Fr Iggy Donovan of the Augustinian Order into sharp relief. Revd.Graham found that ‘People would say ‘you don’t believe in

Revd. Michael GrahamRThe Church of Ireland is characterised by him historically as being; “from the ancient church that existed in Ireland since the days of St Patrick and before. But…that church was reformed during the Reformation, …we are not a new church formed at the Reformation.”

Having been involved in the church throughout his life Revd. Graham recalls the feeling ‘like coming home’ when connecting with the Episcopal Church in Scotland which his family belonged to while living abroad. Later the family moved to Ireland, ‘(I) worked for Digital in Galway, a computer manufacturer and I was involved in the Church in Galway. Many times people had said to me ‘do you think God is calling you to the Ministry?’And then in Galway ‘something happened actually in the Church in Galway; an old guy there that I worked with in Digital, who was a lot older than I , decided with me to paint a little side Chapel used in the Church, it’s a Medieval Church in Galway called St Nicholas’. There was a little side Chapel that needed painting and freshening, so Reggie and I got in and did it. And we were chatting away and he said ‘I’m think-ing of going for what we call Auxiliary Ministry’, in other words a non-stipendiary role’

This man who was older than Michael Graham inspired him that it was not too late to decide what to do...‘I’d been thinking about this and thinking and I went home and told my wife, …and then later the Church, ‘well I’m thinking that maybe I’ve got this Vocation’.

In describing the Church of Ireland which Revd.Graham was ordained into, he clarifies some points

very top-down way of approaching things, and yet we have such huge community bases, why aren’t we growing from the bottom- up, instead of going from the top? It’s the old thinking, you start at the top and work down, and not that you start at the bottom, and think where are the people? What are they saying? Where do they want to go?’

The contemporary Ireland we now know is charac-terised by different nationalities and cultural back-grounds. New accommodations and friendships have been forged. In Drogheda the Indian Ortho-dox Church has been welcomed in St.Peter’s Church of Ireland to share the Church for their religious services. Revd.Graham recalls how this came about, ‘I had an approach from Fr George Thankachen, who is their Priest, asking if they might use the Church for their worship, and in Dublin there had been at least one congregation from the Indian Orthodox Church who were using St. Anne’s in Dawson St. I knew of this and I knew there was no objection from The Church of Ireland’s point of view to doing this. So I asked my Select Vestry, who are the representative body for the congregation (we elect them every year), would they have any objection, and the answer was ‘no, we’re quite happy.’ We got permission from the Diocese and just said ‘you are welcome to come’. So they came and started using our Church every other week’.

And when asked if there is anything that the long-time established Churches, like The Church of Ireland can learn from new communities who now live here, Revd.Graham adds ‘..I know we’ve had groups coming here and using our Parish Hall and their faith is very much part of who they are and what they are, it’s experiential, its not just esoteric, its not just in the mind, it’s the way they live. And so maybe that’s something we could learn, that we live our faith’. Also in Ireland we had been used to identities that had been mainly grouped between mainstream Christian denominations, and might be

Transubstantiation’….as an Anglican, we believe in the Real Presence…Christ is really present at the Eu-charist in the elements of Bread and Wine,..it’s not symbolic... the only difference is the Roman Cath-olic tradition defines how Christ is present in the bread. And it’s called the Doctrine of Transubstan-tiation. Now if you understand Greek Philosophy you will understand Transubstantiation. All things, all matter consists of two parts, the actual physical part that we can see, and the substance which means ‘what it is’… Consubstantiation is the same as, Transubstantiation means it changes, it is physically still bread but its substance is changed into the Body of Christ. Now as an Anglican I believe this is the Body of Christ, the difference is I don’t know how and I don’t worry about it…

Queen Elizabeth 1st had this wonderful saying,..essentially she said ‘God’s Word maketh it and its God’s Word that I take’ and it’s in that sense that I take it, God tells me that this is the Body of Christ, and I accept that, so, that’s what I believe, …ask me’.

In discussing some of the changes that have come about in recent years in Drogheda, in particular arising from the effects of a boom and bust economy on the population, Revd.Graham notes that people had ‘become materially better off, but spiritually worse off..it made things easier for people, it also made things much more difficult, we lost an awful lot, we did lose a lot…and I look at the trouble peo-ple are in now…’

However, he finds that a ‘thing that’s come back is concern for neighbours, people think of neighbours again and will help when they can, which had got lost. It had become mé féin all the time in the Celtic Tiger, …and it’s still there to an extent, but yet I think people are realising we can help each other, we can get community back. There have been an interesting few articles about this in the papers …we have this very centralised government, we have a


nity help and common purpose in Drogheda in the restoration of St Peters which lay in stark contrast to events among the divided community at Drumcree Church in Northern Ireland. The two Churches and the two communities occupied an overlapping timeframe in the media and told sharply contrasting stories.

As a closing remark for his contribution to this book Revd.Graham wishes to express thanks, ‘Personally, and again speaking personally, to thank Drogheda for welcoming me, for that I’m very grateful. When I retire, and at some point I will have to leave, and I will miss Drogheda, but I’ve always known that I will have to leave, but as I say I am thankful for the welcome that I’ve received, and the way I’ve been received in the Community, and the way I hope that our community is perceived….its just we’re neigh-bours, we are part of the community, lets do things together’.

simply expressed as ‘either / or’‘But suddenly we have a group of people coming and they don’t fit in either / or’ ‘we are living in a world where we are all different’

Since 1999 Revd.Graham has overseen the Restoration project of St Peter’s Church of Ireland, following a fire in the interior of the Church. He recalls. ‘I mean it was a devastating thing happened…. But there are no such thing as problems there are only opportunities’. Almost immediately contributions started to come in from people anxious to help with the cleanup opera-tion and later with the decision to restore St.Peters Church. ‘Yes, immediately contributions started to come, the first one from Monsignor Donnellon,..and then from a little girl who had won the Name the Teddy competition, and that sort of set the scene for what happened later. The support that came from the community has been just fantastic. It cost us a million euro to restore that church…and no way that we could have done that ourselves….So we opened the gates literally and metaphorically. It made us open the gates. .. and so that’s why when we did (the restoration), we did the part of the Church for music, as saying, this is what we want to give back to the community, its your church as well as ours,…you gave to us; we want to give something back to you. That’s why we built this (Parish Hall) and it is used by the Community.

So we opened the gates literally as well as meta-phorically…And as I said at the time this Church here, St Peter’s is of course the original St. Peter’s for Drogheda…we happen to be the custodians of the present Church on this site, and its been here since Drogheda has been here,…This and St.Mary’s were founded at the same time, and they were founded when Drogheda was founded’

Revd.Graham recalls a news report from BBC Northern Ireland that contrasted the cross commu-


HORCID – DIRECTORYDrogheda Bahá’í Community, National Baha’i Centre, 24 Burlington Road, Dublin 4, The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Ireland. Tel: 01-6683150, [email protected]

Drogheda Masjid, Islamic Foundation of Ireland, 34 Windmill Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth. General Secretary Dr. Jamal Nasser. Tel: 041-9842683 / 087-9238219 [email protected]

Jamaytul-Islamiyut Group and Raodotu Soliheen L-Islam, St. Annes House, Trinity Street, Drogheda,Co. Louth. General Secretary Bolaji Baruwa. Tel: 087-2688732 [email protected]

Jehovah’s Witnesses, 35 Barrack Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Jehovah’s Witness, Joy Christian Chapel International, Unit 1, Greenhills Ind. Village, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Pastor Thomas Sackey. Tel: 087-2042583

Lung Yi Shaolin Buddhist Temple, Gilltown, Beauparc, Navan, Co. Meath. Sifu Nick Costello. Tel: 041-9824732

Mountain Of Fire And Miracles Ministry, Unit 16, Donore Business Park, Donore Road, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Pastor Olufemi Sokan Tel: 041-9807403 087-9685635 [email protected]

RCCG - Sanctuary for all Nations, 63 Boyne Business Park, Greenhills, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Pastor Adewale Adeoti. Tel: 041-9842931, 041-9801547. 087-1321094 [email protected]

RCCG - Seat Of Mercy, 5-6 Palace Street, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Pastor Kayode Popoola. Tel: 086-3372841 [email protected]

Solid Rock, Solid Rock Church, Unit 12, Donore Business Park, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Pastor Babatunde Oki. Tel: 086-3664590 [email protected]

St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s Indian Orthodox Church 22 White Thorn, Cross Lanes, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Father George Thankachen. Tel: 087-0693450 [email protected]

Root Of David, Unit 2, North Strand, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Pastor Kolawole Adeneye. Tel: 087-9598479 [email protected] or [email protected]

Trophies of Christ Victory Church, Various Venues. Pastor Iyke Chukwunwejim. Tel: 087-7600197 [email protected]

Voice of Victory International Church (House of Prayers) 14A-C Greenhills Industrial Park, Drogheda, Co. Louth. Pastor Stephen Ojo. Tel: 041-9842891 / 041-9835571 / 089-4433077 [email protected]@gmail.com

SOuRCES:“The Call of St.Marys”. John McCullen ,1984.“Between Two Rivers” Canon Jim Nelson ,2002.“Louth Directory” George Henry Bassett ,1886.“North Leinster” Casey and Rowan , 1993.“Meath and Kildare” John Paterson 1981“The Low Lane Church” Patrick Duffner O.S.A. 1979.“The Franciscans in Drogheda”Patrick Conlan O.F.M. 1987.“Franciscan Ireland” Patrick Conlan O.F.M. 1988.“A History of St.Peters National School” Richard Gerrard 2012.“St.Peters Church Drogheda 1881/1981”. Moira Corcoran and James Garry.“St.Oliver Plunkett Shrine Website” Tommy Burns 2008.“Blessed Oliver Plunkett” Historical Studies 1987“Memoir of Oliver Plunkett” Cardinal Moran 1895“Stuarts Historical memoirs of Armagh”James Stuart 1900.“Archdiocese of Armagh” Raymond Murray 2000.“Drogheda Architectural Heritage” William Garner 1986.“A Day of Joy and Pride” J.O.D.S. No.!2 Peter Durnin 2000.“St.Mary Magdalenes Church Drogheda 1878-1978”Rev Prior, Augustine Doherty.“Townland Survey of Co.Louth : Mell” Jim Garry Co.Louth Arch + Hist Journal Vol. XXII, 2 1990.“St.Marks Church, Fair St. Drogheda” Dermot FoleyCo.Louth Arch +Hist Journal XXVI, 1 2005.“History of Drogheda” John Dalton1844“Drogheda Its Topography”John Bradley 1997 “Drogheda gateway to the Boyne Valley”Sean Collins M.A. 1998“Ancient Drogheda” A.Robinson 1994“The Diocese of Meath” Patrick Fagan 2001

“A History of Julianstown” I.C.A. Guild 1985“Gods Executioner” Michael OSiochru 2008“The Liberator” Patrick M.Geoghan 2010“William Crolly Archbishop of Armagh”Ambrose Macauley 1998“The Irish Dominicans”Thomas Flynn1993“Theobald Wolfe Tone” T.Bartlett 1998“Wolfe Tone” Marianne Elliot 1989.“Ireland in Prehistory” M.Herity and G.Eogan 1977.“The Oxford History of Ireland” R.F.Foster 1989 The Journals of the Old Drogheda Society 1976 onwards.County Louth Archeological and Historical Journal 1904 to date.Drogheda Library Stockwell st. Drogheda.

BIBlIOgRapHY:Primary Source Interviews with:Fr. George Thankachen, Pastor Olufemi Sokan, Dr. Jamal Nasser, Dr. Raouf Abdul, Pastor Adewale Adeoti, Aderire Ademokun, Pastor Kayode Popoola, Irene Ezindu, Colin Churchill, Pastor Iyke Chukwunwejim, Pastor Olayinka Dixon Oludaiye, Imam Abdul Ganiyu A. Asubiaro, Afolabi Kekere-ekun, Imam Oluwatoyin Bashir Adigun, Pastor Thomas Sackey, Pastor Mary Esanbor, Nkechi Oduah, Sifu Nick Costello, Pastor Stephen Ojo, Apostle Stephanie Ojo, Samuel Michaels, Pastor Babatunde Oki, Pastor Mary Bisola Oki, National Baha’i Centre, Pastor Kolawole Adeneye, Kehinde Raji and Anonymous.


SECONDARY SOURCES:The Bahá’ís, ‘The Oneness of Humanity’, (A Profile of the Bahá’í Faith and its Worldwide Community, c.1997 www.bahai.com) <http://www.bahai.com/thebahais/pg26b.htm>

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Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries International Website, ‘Our History’, (Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries, © 2012) [online] <http://www.mountainoffire.org/index.php/2012-10-20-09-36-37/history-of-mfm>

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Rice, Andrew, ‘Mission from Africa’, New York Times Magazine (April 8th, 2009) [online] <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/maga-zine/12churches-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>

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The History of Religious & Cultural Integration in Drogheda

The History of Religions in Drogheda and their Institutions.An introduction to organised religion and institutions

in Drogheda from medieval times to the present.

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