Reek Mass

First live Reek-top Mass a huge success

Neill O’Neill

THIRTY-EIGHT per cent of those who were watching television in Ireland on Sunday morning last were tuned into the 11am Mass, which was broadcast live on RTÉ from the summit of Croagh Patrick for the first time.
Listening to Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, welcome people to ‘nature’s cathedral of the west’ was effortless for the thousands who preferred to watch on television rather than brave the 50,000-strong crowd – but the effort that went into the broadcast was anything but simple.
In a throw-back to the days when the church was built atop the holy peak at the beginning of last century, donkeys carted equipment up the 2,510ft mountain – aided with the bigger items by a helicopter. It took no less than two miles of cable – to bring the live feed down the mountain to the outside broadcast units – and a crew of 31 people to bring the Mass to the nation, and to the world via the internet.
Speaking to The Mayo News yesterday (Monday), Fr Denis Carney, Administrator of St Mary’s Parish in Westport, said the Mass and broadcast was a complete success. Fr Carney, who was the co-ordinator on the ground between the local clergy, Kairos Production Company and RTÉ, said that the Presbytery in Westport and producers have been inundated with compliments about the Mass, including messages from as far away as Singapore and Melbourne.
“We have been getting a lot of queries from people wondering if the Mass will be released on a DVD and the early indications are that it will be,” said Fr Carney.
In his homily, which was inspired by the ‘Year of the Vocation’, Archbishop Neary told the outdoor congregation that this year has been designated as a year when we reflect upon and pray about the call or vocation we have received. He said that people had failed to find true inner happiness, despite the recent prosperous times.
“Today consumer values are often not creatively interpreted,” he said. “True, they can seduce and reduce everything to wealth and security. The truly reflective person learns from this and probes deeper. In the midst of our recent wealth and prosperity we failed to find the inner joy, peace and faith that we might have expected. Faith enables and encourages us to search for meaning in the particular call we have received from God.
“Vocation is a call to witness, service and love,” he continued. “It is not so much about what we do but about who we are and how we live our lives. In years gone by this would have focused solely on the call to religious life or priesthood but now we realise that, through our baptism, we are all called to live out our lives in whatever vocation or ministry we find ourselves. Like the climbers on the mountain this day we are conscious of how much we depend on each other, he said”
After the success of the occasion, Fr Carney had many people to thank.
“There are so many people to thank including the Heraty family from Owenwee who facilitated us faithfully last week, and the curator of the church on Croagh Patrick, John Cummins, who did a lot of work,” he said. “John Maughan and the Mayo Civil Defence also co-ordinated a lot of people and helped greatly to make the live broadcast a reality, and Archbishop Neary was very pleased with how the whole event unfolded.”
The programme on RTÉ was presented by Nuala Carey and was produced by Fr Michael Melvin and directed by David Donaghy of Kairos productions. Readings at the Mass were by Margaret Joyce and Padraig Geraghty – representing Westport and Lecanvey respectively – and the prayers were read by Gerard Needham from Kilsallagh, Fionnuala Gavin from Murrisk and Harry Hughes, who is Chairman of the Croagh Patrick Archaeological Society.
The local parish choir, under the leadership of Charlotte McQuaid from the Sacred Heart School in Westport and Maeve Staunton from Lecanvey, provided the singing and all the musicians hailed from the west Mayo area, except Brendan Begley – the renowned accordion player from Dingle.