SAINT MARY’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
Registered No. 37 Deanery No. 32 Pop 300/4500 (1826:1921)
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Architect:
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T. Brine |
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Address:
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24 Bowling Green Road, Castletown, Isle of Man IM9 1EB Tel: 01624 82 22 72 |
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Priest:
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Rev. Gerald Hurst, |
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Masses:
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Sunday 1st M Prev. 6.30 pm; 9 pm Holydays 7.30 pm Weekdays Mon, Wed, Fri 10 am |
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Services:
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Confs Sat 6-6.30 pm. Bapt by appointment Nov. & Ben. Wed 7.30 pm |
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General:
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SVP. Religious Instruction: Seniors; Wed 4 -5 pm; Juniors – as announced Beechview Nursing Home Abbotswood Nursing Home (Ballasalla) |
In 1653, the process of dissolving the Cistercian Abbey at Rushen in Ballasalla began and the Catholic Faith in the Island died. For the following three hundred years, fitful attempts to revive that faith continued.
It was not until the year 1826 or thereabouts that the first post-reformation Catholic Church was built on the Island by an Irish Jesuit named Father Matthew Gahan. On the outskirts of Castletown on land costing £16 this present church was erected at a total cost of £650. During the building the west gable was blown down. In 1889 a new roof was needed due to storm damage.
Later on, nearly one hundred years, in 1979 a replacement had to be made and the third roof was put on. Since then the church has been re-decorated and re-ordered and very recently, due to burglary, further repairs were necessary. During these years the little church has been served by some nineteen priests visiting from Douglas until in 1924 it became a Parish Church and the first Parish Priest was Father Michael Walsh who belonged to the Liverpool Archdiocese.
Up until 1850 the authorities had been in Dublin. Since 1924 there have been some twelve Parish Priests including the Rev G Hurst, the present incumbent. For reasons not very clear this small church on the outskirts of the Archdiocese was closed down completely for eighteen years between 1895 and 1913.
Growth in the congregation has ensured its place in the town of Castletown and the most recent refurbishment in 1994 has made it into a little country gem one of which the older and more faithful parishioners are very proud.
Dedicated to St Mary, after the title of the Rushen Abbey of St Mary, the windows depicting the Annunciation and the Resurrection, the work of the Clarke Brothers of Dublin, are part of its beautiful features. The greatest tribute that this church pays to its Catholic forebears is that it still stands proudly as the first Post-Reformation Catholic Church on the Isle of Man
THE PARISH includes PORT ERIN & PORT ST MARY plus the other surrounding villages of Ballasalla, Ballabeg, Arbory, Cregneish, Colby, and Santon. There are no Catholic Schools in the district. But there are some seven schools which provide a very good education.