Proud day for Cong

Proud day for Cong


Edwin McGreal

IT may not quite have been the complete repatriation that Fr Patrick Lavelle aspired for around 1870 when he stole the Cross of Cong from the Royal Irish Academy with the intention of bringing it home to Cong, where he was Parish Priest.
But last week the Cross of Cong was back in Mayo and by entirely legal means.
Fr Colm Kilcoyne, former Parish Priest of Cong, and current Parish Priest of Cong, Fr Paddy Gilligan were both present at the National Museum of Country Life at Turlough Park for the unveiling of the priceless 12th century relic, as were a large number of people from the wider Cong area.
Among them were descendants of Fr Michael Waldron, the last Parish Priest of Cong to have the Cross in his legal possession. Present were Mary Waldron, the great grandniece of Fr Waldron; great- great-grandnephews her son Evan Summerville and his first cousin Brian Hopkins; together with Brian’s son Darragh, a great-great-great-grandnephew of Fr Waldron, who sold the Cross to mathematician Dr James MacCullagh who in turn donated it to the Royal Irish Academy.
Fr Colm Kilcoyne, a long time Parish Priest in Cong, admitted the return of the Cross evoked a great feeling for the people of the area.
“There will be great pride,” admitted Fr Kilcoyne. “It is an emotional day and it will be for people around this area because there has been a mystique about the Cross of Cong. So many people visit Cong and they are aware of the Cross of Cong but to be able to see it in the flesh as it were will be great and I think it will do great benefit to the Museum here and it will also enlighten people of part of our heritage.”
Manager/Keeper at Turlough Park, Tony Candon, joked that they would be keeping a close eye on the Fr Kilcoyne and Fr Gilligan to ensure no repeat of the Fr Lavelle saga. It is a quirky anecdote in a storied history of the Cross and Fr Kilcoyne spoke fondly of his predecessor.
“Pat Lavelle felt that this is the Cross of Cong and it is up in the museum in Dublin so he said the geography was wrong. So he went up with the big long coats that they used to wear and he put it under his coat and he walked out the door. They went down and found him on the street in Dublin and took the Cross from him.
“He was a fabulous guy. When I was in Cong, outside the window was his tombstone and it was a reminder to me always. It said: ‘who in dark and evil days this patriotic priest looked after people’ and I would think ‘oh my God, that’s putting it up to me’. He was a tough guy. He fought landlords everywhere he went and he did feel that the Cross should be back but it’s back now, which is nice.”

Elsewhere on mayonews.ie
Cross of Cong ‘a symbol of what we can achieve’
AUDIO Cross of Cong returns to Mayo