Last-ditch bid to avoid closure of Athlone's Friary church

Athlone's Friary church has been kept open by a massive voluntary effort over the last two years - but the beloved place of worship by the River Shannon is now, once again, on the brink of closing for good.

A meeting took place last week between Fr Aidan McGrath, the head of the Franciscan order in Ireland, and the ad-hoc committee of volunteers which has been responsible for the daily opening of St Anthony's Friary since the Franciscans left Athlone at the beginning of 2023.

The local committee said that, during the meeting on Tuesday last, they were informed by Fr McGrath that the ongoing reduction in number of priests nationally meant the Franciscans could no longer continue to provide priests for twice-weekly Masses in Athlone.

The local group was also told that, due to a lack of manpower, the Franciscan province would be ceasing the general administration and operation of the church building.

A statement read out by committee member Mary Daly Scanlon at the end of Mass in the Friary on Sunday last stated that the closure of St Anthony's Friary was now "imminent" and that there was only one remaining option to keep it open.

"The only possibility for consideration would be a totally new approach, where a charitable organisation in Athlone, with agreement from Bishop Paul Connell, takes over full responsibility for the Church building and any services therein.

"Therefore we are asking potential trustees for such a new charity, or trustees or directors of an existing charity which may be interested, to make themselves available to us, to do a feasibility study into the viability of keeping this church open as a centre of prayer and worship according to the Franciscan ethos."

The group indicated there was a sense of urgency to the process of potentially setting up a charity to keep the Friary open.

It's understood any such proposal would have to be approved by Bishop Connell, and submitted to Fr McGrath for approval, prior to the feast day of St Francis, on October 4.

"We are not going to do anything that is in conflict with either the Franciscans or the bishop of our diocese. So we ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in what is the right thing to do at this time," read the committee's statement.

People who are interested in getting involved in feasibility study, and who are potentially willing to become a trustee of such a charity, are being asked to make contact with the ad hoc Friary committee by this Saturday, August 31.

It's believed that the prospective charity would have to take on responsibility for all financial costs associated with the ongoing running of the church building, such as maintenance, insurance and heating. These are costs which, to date, have been met by the Franciscans.

For the last 20 months, up to 80 local volunteers have been involved in various aspects of the effort to keep the Friary open.

These volunteers have been handling the daily opening of the church to the public at 9am, and its closure at 6pm, as well as looking after its cleaning, flowers, routine maintenance, and contributing to the two weekly Mass services on Tuesday and Sunday mornings.

This year and last year, the two weekly Masses have been celebrated by friars who commuted from elsewhere in Ireland.

However, the last Sunday Mass in the current arrangement will be this Sunday, while the Tuesday Masses at 10am are due to continue for September.

Moate native Fr Gabriel Kinahan, who was based in Athlone prior to the Franciscans' departure but is now based in Galway, outlined the situation in stark terms at last Sunday's Mass in the Friary.

"We have run out of road for kicking the can," said Fr Gabriel. "Our Mass here next Sunday (September 1) will be the last Mass celebrated by the friars on a Sunday."

He said that when he transferred to Galway there were six active priests in the house there, but that number had since fallen to just two priests in full-time church ministry.

"Things have run down faster than we ever expected them to, so we are not in a position to be able to service the church on a Sunday here in Athlone any more from Galway. I think we all knew this was going to happen eventually," he said.