Welcome, Fáilte - Diocese of Cloyne

Welcome

Fáilte, Welcome

to the website for the Catholic Diocese of Cloyne, Ireland

Bishop William Crean

04 June 2026

Cloyne Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Grotto Mass

Last September I opened my door to welcome Harry. Harry is a rescue dog. He had known some rough days but realised quickly that he was safe and had found home. He loves our walks, dragging me out every day. He is happy out sitting at my feet whether I am praying, reading, or watching the telly. He loves drives in the car. He is almost the perfect dog. ALMOST! Why? Well because when he is alone things go wrong. Whether it is last Saturdays Irish Examiner, or next Sunday’s homily notes, nothing is safe. He can turn them into confetti in seconds. It is probably true for all of us, when we try to go it alone things go wrong. Here as we contemplate the Annunciation, we remember that the Word who yearned to be born into our world is the same one who tells us, “I am with you always.”.
A couple of weeks ago Harry tried a different approach to deal with his separation anxiety, he found a collection of poetry, and he devoured it. Thankfully leaving the poem I will now share with you intact. It is called,

Annunciation by Malcolm Guite

Lourdes Grotto

Fermoy, Kilworth and Araglin Corpus Christi Procession

Sunday June 7th following 12pm Mass

Processing from St. Patrick's Church to Fermoy Town Park

All are welcome!

Please feel free to leave flower petals to be strewn in the procession in Patrick's Church on Wednesday - Saturday before the Sunday

Corpus Christi Fermoy, Kilorth & Araglin

28 May 2026

Changes to Mass schedule will commence 7 June in Cloyne and Aghada Parish

Sat 6 June	6:00pm	(Vigil) St Colman's Church, Cloyne
Sun 7 June	9:00am	Start of the Sea Church, Ballycotton
Sun 7 June	9:30am	St Mary's Church, Ballinrostig
Sun 7 June	10:15am	Church of the Immaculate Conception, Shanagarry
Sun 7 June	11:00am	St Erasmus Church, Aghada

Sat 13 June	6:00pm	(Vigil) St Colman's Church, Cloyne
Sun 14 June	9:00am	St Colmcille's Church, Churchtown South
Sun 14 June	9:30am	St Mary's Church, Ballinrostig
Sun 14 June	10:15am	Church of the Immaculate Conception, Shanagarry
Sun 14 June	11:00am	St Erasmus Church, Aghada

Sat 20 June	6:00pm	(Vigil) St Colman's Church, Cloyne
Sun 21 June	9:00am	Start of the Sea Church, Ballycotton
Sun 21 June	9:30am	Church of the Mother of God, Saleen
Sun 21 June	10:15am	Church of the Immaculate Conception, Shanagarry
Sun 21 June	11:00am	St Erasmus Church, Aghada

Sat 27 June	6:00pm	(Vigil) St Colman's Church, Cloyne
Sun 28 June	9:00am	St Colmcille's Church, Churchtown South
Sun 28 June	9:30am	Church of the Mother of God, Saleen
Sun 28 June	10:15am	Church of the Immaculate Conception, Shanagarry
Sun 28 June	11:00am	St Erasmus Church, Aghada

Masses will revert to the usual times from Sunday 5th July 2026

Cloyne Aghada Mass Schedule June 2026

28 May 2026

Shalom Charleville Parish Retreat Centre Co. Cork P56 YP79

Wednesday 17th June 2026, 11:30am - 3:30pm

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For bookings please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 083-440 5359

The Priests Apocalypse

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Latest Homily

31 May 2026 - The Most Holy Trinity Solemnity - Basilic of Pope St. Pius X Lourdes

Latest Articles

June 2026
- Homily by V. Rev. Tom McDermott Adm - 2nd June 2026
May 2026
March 2026
- Fatima Pilgrimage 2026 - Carrigtwohill Parish
October 2025
- Bishop Crean meets Pope Leo
September 2025
- "Behold I'm doing a new thing" says the Lord (Isaiah 43)
February 2025
- Recent picture of St. Colman's Cathedral, Cobh. Co. Cork
October 2024
- Light a Candle at St. Colman's Cathedral

Coram Fratribus

The End of Desire

Simon Stisen describes himself as ‘the Pentecostalist Pastor who came out of the closet’. In his podcast Greatest of all he investigates different aspects of faith and sexual orientation in conversation with a variety of people. I was recently privileged Read More

Coram Fratribus

Justin Martyr

It should make us think that Justin Martyr was decapitated for the sake of his faith during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, that most philosophical of emperors whose sayings you can find on websites called things like ‘Inspiring Thoughts for Read More

Coram Fratribus

Living within Love

Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you a question, only one; answer me and I will tell you my authority for acting like this. John’s baptism: did it come from heaven, or from man? Answer me that.’ And they Read More

Coram Fratribus

Critical Severity I recently came across this observation in GS MacKenzie’s Travels in the Island of Iceland from 1811: ‘In all departments of literature, there is a strong disposition among the Icelanders to critical severity; and in theological writings more especially, this severity has occasionally assumed a very rigorous form. A curious instance of this kind occurred about a hundred years ago, when an unfortunate man was publicly whipped, as a punishment for the errors he had committed in a translation of the book of Genesis’ (pp. 303-4). I wonder what those stern, austere readers would have made of Deepl or ChatGPT.

Coram Fratribus

The End of Desire Simon Stisen describes himself as ‘the Pentecostalist Pastor who came out of the closet’. In his podcast Greatest of all he investigates different aspects of faith and sexual orientation in conversation with a variety of people. I was recently privileged to be Simon’s guest. What is the finality and end of human desire? How does grace act in our lives? Is there a way through disorder to order? Is there not a risk attaching the hyper-eroticisation of sexuality in contemporary discourse? These are some of the questions we addressed in a conversation you can find – in Norwegian – here.
Simon referrs to the Nordic Bishops’ Conference on Human Sexuality from 2023. This is how that letter concludes:
Many are perplexed by traditional Christian teaching on sexuality. To such we offer a word of friendly counsel. First: try to acquaint yourself with Christ’s call and promise, to know him better through the Scriptures and in prayer, through the liturgy and study of the Church’s full teaching, not just of snippets here and there. Take part in the Church’s life. The horizon of the questions with which you set out will be enlarged in this way, as will your mind and heart. Secondly, consider the limitations of a purely secular discourse on sexuality. It needs to be enriched. We need adequate terms to speak of these important things. We shall have a precious contribution to make if we recover the sacramental nature of sexuality in God’s plan, the beauty of Christian chastity, and the joy of friendship, which lets us see that great, freeing intimacy can be found also in non-sexual relationships.
The point of the Church’s teaching is not to curtail love but to enable it. At the end of its prologue, our 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church repeats a passage from The Roman Catechism of 1566: ‘The whole concern of doctrine and its teaching must be directed to the love that never ends. Whether something is proposed for belief, for hope or for action, the love of our Lord must always be made accessible, so that anyone can see that all the works of perfect Christian virtue spring from love and have no other objective than to arrive at love.’ By this love the world was made, our nature formed. This love was made manifest in Christ’s example, teaching, saving passion, and death. It is vindicated in his glorious resurrection, which we shall celebrate with joy during the fifty days of Easter. May our Catholic community, so many-faceted and colourful, bear witness to this love in truth.
St Mary of Egypt and the Monk Zosima.

Coram Fratribus

Justin Martyr It should make us think that Justin Martyr was decapitated for the sake of his faith during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, that most philosophical of emperors whose sayings you can find on websites called things like ‘Inspiring Thoughts for Every Day’ where readers adorn them with cute little pink hearts and shooting-star emoji.
It is possible, then, to talk volubly and well about the meaning of existence yet, at the same time, to run a totalitarian system with little room for freedom of thought and conscience.
The story of Justin’s martyrdom is touching. He accounts for his faith with pregnant utterances. When the inquisitor asks him to worship the emperor at least a little bit, Justin says: ‘No sensible man descends from pity to impiety!’ On behalf of himself and his four companions, he declares: ‘Do with us what you like, but we are Christians, and we will not sacrifice to idols.’
A like clarity is found in many early acts of martyrs. Justin, though, had a clearer understanding of his faith than most. He was a philosopher by training. He knew the currents of his day, a hodgepodge of truth-claims not entirely unlike the one we confront in the chaos of our time.
Justin considered this reality analytically and steadfastly.
Having become a Christian, certain that the Word made flesh is the hermeneutic key to all things, he tried that key everywhere. If Christ is the Word whereby all things came into being, he thought, he must have left a trace on all that is. Then it should be possible to seek an impression, an image, a reflection of the Word in improbable places.
That is how Justin came to formulate the lovely notion of the logos spermatikos, the ‘word sown abroad’. It presupposes the Gospel’s parable of God as the Sower. The Word is generously sown throughout the universe in order to nurture humankind. We must gather in its harvest carefully, wisely.
Justin’s conviction that God’s goodness can be sought, and potentially found, in all created things, in any sincere quest for truth, gave him strength to stand firm in the final trial, his heart on fire with a love that knows no boundaries.
Icon of St Justin, whose feast occurs on 1 June, by Theophanes the Cretan. Wikimedia.

Coram Fratribus

Living within Love Jesus said to them, ‘I will ask you a question, only one; answer me and I will tell you my authority for acting like this. John’s baptism: did it come from heaven, or from man? Answer me that.’ And they argued it out this way among themselves: ‘If we say from heaven, he will say, “Then why did you refuse to believe him?” But dare we say from man?’ – they had the people to fear, for everyone held that John was a real prophet. So their reply to Jesus was, ‘We do not know.’
Christ’s words (Mark 11.27-33) to the chief priests, elders, and scribes touch a question specific to the circumstances in which they were spoken. But they carry timeless resonance.
If we take them to heart, they challenge us, now, to ask: ‘What are the coordinates by which my judgements are formed? What do I hold to be true?’
In so far as I face these questions squarely, I may find myself enlightened, and possibly a little humiliated, by them.
For I may find I’m not, in fact, living terribly coherently — that I’ll affirm something as being axiomatic in one setting only, just next door, to forget all about it.
When we come to Mass, we enter the church quietly and reverently genuflect. We stand and kneel according to the rubrics. We come to holy communion whole-heartedly saying ‘Amen’ to the real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.
But do we then recall, once we step back into Soho, or wherever it might be, that we are in effect a walking tabernacle, supremely blessed bearers of a supremely graced Presence?
‘Keep yourselves within the love of God’, writes Saint Jude. Those are profoundly encouraging words. They tell us that we can in fact subsist within that love.
God’s love has been poured out on us. All we need to do is to let it act, collaborating with it, enjoying it.
We shall also need, of course, to abandon all sabotage, be it conscious or unconscious, of the kind we commit when we leave God’s love behind for the sake of self-love. And after all, there’s not much delight to be found in that airless room.
Why not rather be joyful and free, astounded to be loved, and so made able to love?
Follower of Maarten van Heemskerck: Christ among the Pharisees, on sale at Sotheby’s.

Coram Fratribus

Transition Liszt’s Variations on a Motif by Bach from 1862 came about in tragic circumstances: the composer was dealing with piercing personal grief. Liszt found the motif he chose to develop in the achingly beautiful sinfonia of Bach’s cantata Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen (‘Weeping, Wailing, Cares, Trembling’), structured by descending semitones. Liszt developed and stretched it in all possible directions, seeking expression for the height and depth, length and breadth of deep emotion. The theme of wailing is not given the last word, however. The final transpositions lead into a proclamatory development of the F Major chorale (‘What God does is well done’) that concludes the Bach cantata. A disposition of determined faith could hardly have been made more explicit. The Variations are a bravura piece, fit to end a recital programme. This evening, at Wigmore Hall, Alexandre Kantorow, one of our time’s finest musicians, began with it, yet managed to maintain a rising curve. It was extraordinary.
This interpretation by Balázs Fülei, though very different from Kantorow’s, is also excellent.

Today is the day when many people will ask us, "How was #CloyneLourdes2026?"
The truth is, it's hard to put into words. Lourdes is more than a place; it's an experience. It's the friendships formed, the kindness shared, the faith renewed, Read More 6 Likes

Posted: 6 hours ago

Wishing you all the very best of luck and our thoughts and prayers 🙏🏻 1 Comments

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

14 Likes

Posted: Yesterday

Today June 3rd is the Feast of St. Kevin, who founded the monastery at Glendalough (Valley of the two lakes) Co. Wicklow. In the 6th Century.
St. Kevin pray for us🙏🏻 4 Likes

Posted: Yesterday

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Posted: Yesterday

✨CORPUS CHRISTI 2026 ✨
The Corpus Christi Procession will take place following 12 noon Mass this Sunday, 7th June.
Once Mass has ended, we will process out of the Cathedral, across the road and into the Garden of Reflection. We invite Read More 1 Likes

Posted: 2 days ago

Homily by V. Rev. Tom McDermott Adm - 2nd June 2026

Cloyne Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes
Grotto Mass

Corpus Christi Procession - 7th June 2026

Fermoy, Kilworth and Araglin Corpus Christi Procession

Cloyne/Aghada Pastoral Area - Changes to Mass Schedule June 2026

Changes to Mass schedule will commence 7 June in Cloyne and Aghada Parish

The Priest's Apocalypse - 17th June 2026