1850-1870; a model of what might have been and a promise of what still could be. . 

  The Model School in Athy (destroyed by fire in 2010) where all children were taught together

Below find the article by Bro Eoin from Bolton Abbey, but first a little modern summary which arose from reading this extremely important  article.

*He makes no gesture towards reconciliation of the two ‘religions’ as they had been called since the Diet of Augsburg (1555).

It is noteworthy that to this day most people still use the term Religion when referring to either Catholicism, or the Church of Ireland, etc. Catholicism has viewed itself as the Religion founded by Christ and having the fullness of the revelation of Christianity.The Religion of Christianity is made up of many Confessions, Communions and Denominations. Many in Ireland confuse the part with the whole.

All other Christians are regarded as inferior to this perfection and only have elements of Catholicism due to the grace which emanates from the fullness of grace made available by Catholicism. Protestants hate the term Religion or religious which are used by politicians, the media etc. “He is very religious,” is a common expression. In reference to schools we have a National School system which is neither secular or religious. It is totally compatible with Atheism, Islam or Humanism or for that matter any religion as the religious dimension is kept out of the literary and general curriculum. Separate religious, moral or philosophical education is guaranteed. Currently, most people are not aware that this is the shape of our education system. That includes, the Government, the judiciary and the various groupings who have an interest in education.

Schools in Co. Kildare by Eoin de Bháldraithe
Monk of Bolton Abbey, Moone
The issue of schools and Catholic schools in particular, remains very much alive in Ireland today. Here I would like to recount some of the episodes in ‘the story so far’ with special attention to the many Kildare places that occur. In particular with reference to the Model School in Athy, local people tell me that memories are still alive of children being educated together therein the last century. There is also a clear memory of the Christian Brothers and Mercy Sisters being brought in to counteract the Model School. This is oral history or folk memory with all the limitations that involves.(1) Here I would like look at the many excellent studies that have been done on the matter and see if research would support the folk memories.
BISHOP HUSSEY AND EDMUND RICE
One of the best of the secondary sources is Faith and Fatherland by Barry Coldrey. It tells the history of ‘the Christian Brothers and the development of Irish Nationalism 1838-1921’.(2) They were founded by (Blessed) Edmund Ignatius Rice. It carries special authority as Coldrey is himself a Christian Brother. In his introduction quotes some writers including some of his own brethren as saying that they were mainly responsible for the rise of Irish nationalism and maybe even for the ‘imbrioglio’ in the North . His conclusions are remarkably concrete: a significant number of leaders in 1916 were past students of the Brothers; so also were many of the leaders of the War of Independence. This is his careful statement as a historian. For me it seems that its significance is that without the Brothers there would have been no 1916!
He begins with an account of the origin of the Brothers. Thomas Hussey, a former president of Maynooth College, was appointed bishop in Rice’s native city of Waterford in 1796.(4)  He wrote a pastoral letter to his clergy soon after his appointment. He warns his clergy not to send children to ‘places of education’ where their faith may be endangered. To be sure that people would comply, priests should refuse to give Holy Communion to the parents. Likewise any Catholic soldiers are to obey their spiritual masters and the military officers have no authority over their religion. The Catholic military should not go to Protestant places of worship. Some claim that all religions are equal: that is latitudinarian! The Catholic religion is for all places and climes. Other churches are more limited in their surroundings. The light of St Patrick spread to nine-tenths of Ireland and to 99 per cent of this diocese.
A reply to this message is preserved in the National library. There is no indication as to who the author might be.(5) This Christian prelate, it says, seeks to open the old wounds and disturb the unity and peace. He stirs up the bitter poison of religious discord. The diocese was exempt from this kind of discord. Dr Moylan, Bishop of Cork, embraced his Protestant brother. The pastoral addresses of Archbishop Troy of Dublin are also praised. They support the good and happiness of society.
The sentiments of Dr Hussey are very different and seek to divide Christians. It is a perilous attempt to widen the great breach in society. He conveys an ungenerous and impolite charge to his clergy. Surely he cannot be serious in urging this separation of the rich and poor. He should follow the harmonizing efforts of his better judging brethren. He is among the angry zealots, guilty of intolerant language, tyrannical and detestable doctrine. Must literature no longer be shared with other youths? Must they mingle no more in Protestant society? No more juvenile intimacies of friendship? Avoid all political discussions? Is no soldier loyal but the Catholic one? T.J. Walsh claims that Catholic soldiers were flogged for attending mass.(6) The writer is offended when Hussey says that the Protestant religion is confined to a small country and Catholicism is universal. Again he concludes that the new Bishop kindles the flame of religious discord.
Coldrey says that there were three schools in Waterford at the time, all regarded as proselytising. There was a Charter School just outside the city with 60 boys and girls. There was also a school with75 boys and another with 34 girls. Those were the targets of Hussey’s attack, claiming that they were under siege by the Protestant proselytising societies. I had to read his letter several times to realise that it was an encouragement (or a command) to Catholics to take their children away from those schools. It is clear that Hussey really wanted separate education for Catholic children. Coldrey tells us that the furore over his pastoral letter was so intense that he was obliged to go into exile from his diocese for four years until the controversy abated. (7) He does not say exactly why the bishop had to leave the diocese but it must have been because the people didn’t want separate schooling.
It follows too that this is what Edmund Rice wanted. He aimed at the Christian education of poor boys and so frustrated the effort of the proselytising societies.(8) Coldrey introduces us to these documents but he is not clear on the real intent of Rice. Were his schools not for Catholics only? There may have been a policy of allowing Protestants to attend if they wished and this would justify the claim that they were for all poor people.
When we have grasped this, it becomes clear that when Rice helped to bring the Presentation nuns into Waterford for ‘the Moral and Religious education of the poor’,(9) it was again for Catholics only.
We are fortunate to have a biography of Nano Nagle and her Presentation Sisters.(10) One has the impression that it is written to promote the cause of her canonisation. For example, in describing the religious situation in France in the 17th century, no mention is made of the Edict of Nantes or of its revocation. There is also a section on her charity , Caritas Christi, appropriate preparation for canonisation (50). She started schools for the poor in Cork. It was against the penal laws to have such a school. Her brothers were against it at first for fear of trouble with the law. A good example of how the law was implemented was as follows. In 1762 the government feared a popish plot.(11) The mayor of Cork ordered the commander of the city garrison to patrol the area around the schools. The commander said that the mayor had no authority to make such an order and so, ‘In the quarrel the fears of the popish plot disappeared’.(11) Thus the nuns’ schools were Catholic or separatist by necessity. When, however, they were introduced into Waterford they were separatist by ideology. Ominous is the stipulation that students were not to play with students of other schools.
Dáire Keogh in his life of Rice begins by saying how exaggerated were the RC views of the force of the penal laws. Half the land of Ireland was under RC controls if one considers trustees etc. In 1766 Rome did not recognise the Stuart successors. This eased the situation in Ireland as it reduced the threat to the ruling dynasty in England.
Perhaps I could add some ‘strictures’ of my own on Hussey’s letter. He claims that Ireland was 10% Protestant, but surely it was more like 25% or so in 1800.

He makes no gesture towards reconciliation of the two ‘religions’ as they had been called since the Diet of Augsburg (1555).*

Surely his dedication to Christ would have inspired some effort towards repentance and reconciliation. Nor would this have been out of character with the times. Some thirty years later the bishop of a nearby diocese, James Doyle, proposed that a reunion of the Catholic and Anglican churches could be easily achieved if the King were to call together a few sympathetic bishops from both sides. If agreement were achieved, he said, an Act of Parliament would solve the problem.
CONCILIATORY VOICES
The main facts of the story of the Irish National Schools are rather well known.(12) In 1814, with general Catholic agreement, the Kildare Place Society received grants from the government to assist schools. As an effort to be neutral between the denominations, the scriptures were to be read ‘without note or comment’. Some money, however, was given to proselytising groups and this led Daniel O’Connell to denounce the Society. Eventually two thirds of the money was going to Protestant Ulster, as was stated in Parliament.
In 1831 the government took the matter in hand.(13)  Edward Stanley, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, wrote to the Duke of Leinster outlining the government plans. He was regarded as the Premier Peer in Ireland, with a strong nationalist, or at least neutral, reputation. He would be President of the Board which was to be formally constituted by the Lord Lieutenant. Some money was allotted to the new Board which would supervise how it was spent. This was some thirty years before similar legislation was passed in England. The Board would include men of exalted station from both religious persuasions. Stanley explained that the practice of reading the scriptures without note or comment was obnoxious to Catholics. The aim will be ‘to unite in one system children of different creeds’. Four or five days a week would be devoted to combined moral and literary education, while one or two days will be set aside for separate religious education of the children. There may be some portions of Scripture used for combined education. Teachers should be trained in the Model School in Dublin which was eventually established in Marlborough Street.
The two Archbishops of Dublin agreed to sit on the Board and they were to be the pillars of the system. On the day the schools opened, a ‘lesson’ was displayed which was to be taught in every school. Composed by Richard Whately, Church of Ireland Archbishop, it ran as follows:
Christians should endeavour to live peacefully with all, even those of different religious persuasion. Our Saviour, Christ, commanded his disciples to love one another and even their enemies.
Many hold erroneous doctrines, but we ought not to hate or persecute them. Jesus Christ did not that intend his religion to be forced on men by violent means. Quarreling with our neighbours and abusing them is not the way to convince them that we are in the right and they in the wrong. We ought to show ourselves followers of Christ by behaving gently and kindly to everyone.
Bishop James Doyle of Kildare and Leighlin (already mentioned) was pleased with Whatley’s ‘Lesson’ and commended it to his clergy in a circular as the schools began in 1831. Later Doyle spoke before a Parliamentary Committee as follows:

“I do not see how any man wishing well to the public peace, and who looks to Ireland as his country, can think that peace can be permanently established, or the prosperity of the country ever well secured, if children are separated at the commencement of life on account of their religious opinions.”

This is how he sees it from a political point of view. Separate schools would endanger the public peace, which is not yet permanent. The prosperity of the country also depends on keeping children together. Then he deals with the effect of separation on the children themselves.

“I do not know of any measures that would prepare the way for better feeling in Ireland than uniting children at an early age, and bringing them up in the same school, leading them to commune with one another and to form those little intimacies and friendships which subsist through life. Children thus united know and love each other as children brought up together always will and to separate them is I think, to destroy some of the finest feelings in the hearts of men.”

Doyle believes that the separation of children is against the very order of nature. When we read those words it is surprising how far we have departed from his ideals. These are words ‘that will not go away’; they remain as a judgement upon us today.
This ‘Bishop of Kildare’ deserves much greater study. He made famous statements on other issues: the theological status of ‘non-Catholic’ Christians; freedom to convert to Protestantism, mixed marriages and, as already mentioned, on the union of Catholics and Anglicans. We know now that on this last issue he was asked to resign by Rome and was eventually allowed to continue after agreeing not to speak on the issue again. This ‘silencing’, if that is what it was, also needs study.(14)

BOYCOTTING THE NATIONAL SYSTEM
Archbishop Murray of Dublin put great pressure on Br Rice to join the national system. ‘In view of the archbishop’s eminent standing’, Rice decided to apply for the admission of some of his schools into the National Board’. Six schools joined but, six years later, Rice held a General Chapter of the Congregation to decide whether to remain inside the National system. There were complaints about the textbooks which did not teach in conformity to Catholic doctrine. Yet their books were regarded as of high quality and were the most popular in the Empire and in 1861 were the most widely used school books in England. Further the Commissioners were beginning to ask that Brothers attend the Model School in Marlborough Street. To this they objected as there was a Presbyterian was in charge. Without consulting Murray, the chapter decided unanimously that ‘no connection shall be formed henceforth with the Board of National Education.(14a) The Patrician, Presentation, Marist and Christian (de la Salle) Brothers all went in under the National Board. The case of the Presentation Brothers is interesting as they were a breakaway group from the main body of Rice Brothers.
The inevitable result was that the Christian Brothers developed a separate system with their own books. They were out of line with all the other teaching Brothers. They were strongly nationalist and taught their own version of Irish history and their own approach to loyalty to the state. When Cardinal Cullen decided to challenge the National system, they were at hand as leaders in the struggle against the Government. Their schools were deliberately used to draw pupils away from the Model Schools. Those had the duty of training teachers in the national system. The Catholic policy was now against Archbishop Murray as well as that of his predecessor, John Troy. Even though Stanley had granted free education for the Catholic poor and assurance against proselytism, this policy was now reversed.
Murray had been instrumental in getting ‘Pontifical’ status for the Order which meant that they were largely free of Episcopal control. Coldrey does not ask if Rice was disobedient to the bishop. Certainly not from a canon law point of view; he was head of an independent religious Order and so could form his own policy. Yet Keogh shows clearly that Murray was displeased with Rice’s action. From a more spiritual point of view, was he obedient to Christ, the fundamental Christian duty? We can say, ‘Most certainly not!’; all the characters who opted for separation rather than reconciliation and peace were guilty before the Lord.

CARDINAL CULLEN
Paul Cullen was born in Prospect in Co. Kildare. His father was friendly with the Quakers in nearby Ballitore, so Paul was sent to school there at the age of nine and remained till he was thirteen. I estimate that he had to walk just over two miles to get to school. There, one must presume, he learnt the elements of Latin and Greek. Four years later he was sent as a boarder to St Patrick’s College, Carlow and from there proceeded to a brilliant scholarly career. In Rome the Pope himself (Leo XII) came to hear him defend his doctorate and so it was only a natural progression for him to become the Pope’s main link with Ireland. In 1850 he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh but two years later came to the much more important See of Dublin.
He reacted strongly against common education and when he became archbishop of Dublin, was able to establish a new policy. At the same time he opposed the government’s plans for universities in Belfast, Dublin, Cork and Galway, famously calling them ‘godless colleges’. Whatley had worked along with Archbishop Murray for twenty years and his scheme of religious instruction for Protestants and Catholics together was carried out for that time. Whatley wrote Lessons on the truth of Christianity. Murray at first objected to the first two chapters. Revd James Carlisle (Presbyterian) took it in hand and produced a new edition which won the approbation of Murray. There were eighteen chapters. He argued for an undefined general Christianity and so could not be accused of being sectarian. It was then published by the Commission and could be used in all schools. Next they published Scripture lessons. It comprised four volumes and could be used for common religious education. ‘In many respects the work was simply an edition of the Bible with the confusion removed.’(15) This meant that there was now a third type of instruction: combined religious instruction at which no child was required to be present if parents objected. Cullen put further pressure on Whatley who felt himself constrained to withdraw from the Education Board.(16) He openly stated his objection to the Scripture Lessons and to Evidence of Christianity in a pastoral of 1853. After this they could not be used for combined instruction; only for separate education. It was a sad end to the courses that were provided by agreement of the three main denominations.
To help us to grasp the extent of the change involved, we may remember that Murray told a government inquiry that there could be no possible objection to a Protestant teaching secular literature to Catholic and Protestant children together.(17) Later Cullen was to say that ‘keeping company continually with Protestant children and teachers [weakened] the faith of the Catholic child’. This is a common phenomenon in the monarchical structure; popes, bishops and abbots can all institute a policy in direct opposition to that of their predecessor.
In a recent study,(18) Joseph Doyle has detailed, blow for blow, how Cullen broke down the National system and obtained almost a full denominational system. Here I will comment on just two points. It is terribly sad to read that Cornelius Denvir, bishop in Belfast, had established a Model school there and had the Catholic clergy and laity enthusiastic about it. Cullen had him removed from the Board and some papers reported at the time that it was done by getting the Pope himself to lecture Denvir on his moderation and order him off the board. Many readers will remember how ten or fifteen years ago the British Government tried to get the Catholics in Belfast to agree to have the two teacher training colleges on the same campus. It seemed to be an obvious economy for any government and yet the Catholics were able to thwart the plan. Apparently Cullen’s fear of contamination by contact with Protestants was still alive and well. At a public inquiry, Cullen was asked why he was so different from Murray. He said that the latter, now safely dead, only accepted the system as an experiment; it was only now that its dangers were exposed. He disagreed strongly with any Catholics who favoured the system.
An all-out attack on the Model schools was begun in 1862. They were the teacher training places for the National system. The new policy is perhaps best seen in his attack on the Model School in Athy. The Brothers were dispatched to counteract the Model School operating there. Soon not a single Catholic child was left in the Model School in Athy. Cardinal Cullen had imposed a ban of excommunication on any Catholic who sent children to the Model School.(19)

ARCHBISHOP JOHN MACHALE
To continue the story it is necessary to turn back some decades. In Co. Mayo a young man was successfully educated in the hedge schools and went on to the new College in Maynooth. This must have been a relief for the diocese rather than having to ship him to the Continent. John McHale made great progress and quickly became a professor of dogma. He and other staff were occasionally entertained in Carton House, the residence of the Duke of Leinster. MacHale and some colleagues wrote a public letter denouncing Doyle’s scheme for unity. As happened more than once in subsequent history the some of the writers were soon made bishops themselves. MacHale was appointed to succeed the ageing bishop of his native Killala. He eventually went on to be Archbishop of Tuam and at first accepted the new National Schools quietly but the stance of the Rice Brothers seems to have affected him deeply. In 1838, following the example of Rice, he withdrew the few schools in his diocese that were under the Board and it would be another forty years before money was again available in Tuam for primary education.
By this time the proselytising campaign in the West of Ireland had made many converts and it seems that this was the main factor in turning Cullen against any kind of contact with Protestant teachers. For exciting details on this campaign, read Soupers and Jumpers.(20)
The campaign to separate the children according to creed was very successful. Recently I had a dream. On a Sunday morning, I was able to walk up the Shankhill Road in Belfast and down the Falls Road. In my dream I thought that I was accompanied by James Doyle, the bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. I reminded him of his words on separate education. He said that he foresaw the difficulties but he never thought that separation could be so complete and thorough. His advice of course was to get back to joint education as was practised in the early days. Of this the Model School in Athy remains a model for the whole country.

(1) This information is mainly from Liam and Fíona Rainsford of Dataprint, Athy.
(2) Barry Coldrey, Faith and Fatherland: The Christian Brothers and the development of Irish Nationalism 1838-1921 (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan 1988) . There is a copy in the National Library. A copy is easily available on loan from the British Library.
(3) For convenience in this essay I will refer to them as the ‘Rice Brothers’ as is done in the USA, in order to distinguish them from the French Christian Brothers founded by J.B. de la Salle.
(4) Coldrey, 28-30.
(5) Pamphlet in the National Library bound along with the letter of Bishop Hussey and entitled, Strictures and Remarks on Dr Hussey’s Pastoral Address to the Clergy of Lismore and Waterford (Dublin 1797). It is remarkable that Coldrey does not refer to this pamphlet, even though it must have been bound with the Hussey letter at the time he was researching the matter. Dáire Keogh, Edmund Rice 1762-1844, discovered at least five pamphlets criticising the bishop’s letter (p.39).
(6) T.J. Walsh, Nano Nagle and the Presentation Sisters 153.
(7) Coldrey, 14
(8) Coldrey, 16.
(9)  ibid.
(10)TJ Walsh , Nano Nagle and the Presentation Sisters (1959, reprint: Monasterevin 1980).
(11)  ibid. 52.
(12) For a rather brief summary, see our essay, ‘Separate Churches: Separate Schools’ in E. McDonagh (ed.) Survival or Salvation? A Second Mayo Book of Theology (Dublin: Columba 1994) 113-28.
(13) Later Prime Minister as 14th Earl of Derby.
(14) In my book on The Apparition at Knock: The Ecumenical Dimension, I have a chapter on ‘Ireland’s ‘Second Reformation’ which is rather well known and another on ‘An Irish Counter Reformation’ which is hardly known at all. Available from Bolton Abbey or Knock Shrine.

(14 a) Coldrey 28-30.

(15)  Akenson, ‘The Politics of the Curriculum’, Experiment 245.
(16) Akenson, on the resignation of Whately see ibid. 258-73.
(17)  quoted from D.H. Akenson, The Irish Education Experiment: The National System of Education in  the Nineteenth Century, (London 1970) 95.
(18) Joseph Doyle, ‘Cardinal Cullen and the system of national education in Ireland’, in D. Keogh,   A. McDonnell (ed.) Cardinal Cullen and his world (Dublin: Four Courts 2011).

(19) Coldrey. 34, 39.

(20) by Miriam Moffitt (Dublin: Nonsuch 2008)

From our Christian leaders home series. This is to show that there is a causal connection between tithing and rich pastors. The house is found on Mount Avenue, in the Castletown area of Dundalk and is known by the locals ‘as back of the wall. It is worth about € 500,000 or thereabouts.

We know this is his house as there are notices on the gate re water charges, nonpayment with Hassan’s name on them.

No for sale sign up..The meaning of the corner sign, Nathan el? comes from “Nathanel” from hebrew נתנאל, means “Gift of God”, this is a different name but same meaning to “Nathaniel” (נתנאל) except this name is without the “i”.

Now it looks like we will not be having a debate on November 4th? No one is up for it. Looks like it is going to be a Passover operation?

Looking at the gate above try to see if you can guess where the gate below is to be found and who owns the house?

.

Athy Model School

Athy Model School Ethos

Athy Model School is a primary school under the patronage of the Department of Education, with a Church of Ireland ethos. We endeavour to enable each child to acquire a set of moral values based on the ethos of the school.

We encourage parents and children to involve themselves in the activities of both the Church of Ireland community and the wider community. However, we have due recognition of all other beliefs and cultures and we respect cultural and religious diversity.

Dr. Magnus Lundberg of the Uppsala universitet/ Uppsala university
Teologiska institutionen/ Department of Theology
Box 511
751 20 Uppsala has written two very pieces on the The Palmarians.

One is a brief profile: http://www.wrs.vcu.edu/profiles

The other is a 60-page article: http://www.wrs.vcu.edu/ARTICLES/PALMARIAN%20CATHOLIC%20CHURCH/PalmarianCatholicChurch.htm
Sweden/Suecia

The Palmarian Church for the World Religion and Spirituality Project.

Today we received from Gearoíd Dullea Executive Secretary of the Bishops Conference the first inkling of what was discussed at the meeting of all the bishops last month in regard to the House of Prayer. We are publishing this as it will inform the meeting of the Director of Dialogue Ireland, Mike Garde with the the Archbishop of Armagh next week in Dundalk.

We will of course be replying to Gearoíd Dullea as the letter raises more questions than answers and will publish our reply in due course.

As per my previous post, I was part of this, with my mother from 1975 to about 1981. I was aged 8 when I was first involved so my descriptions will be that of an 8 year old!

Just to say at the start, this is my experience, I don’t want to insult anyone by my interpretation of that experience. But this is how it was for me. It might help someone. And by the way I never lost my sense of humour.

Just to explain also my mother was a lovely person, but was very vulnerable and suffered, in hindsight from anxiety, if not some level of depression. She had lost her mother in 1975 who, she was very close to, and her marriage was not good, although they always remained in the same house. She couldn’t leave because in 1975 women in Ireland had no entitlements to the family home, she had no income and her religion kept her there.
So Palmar became her support network.

I was the youngest of 4. The others were only involved for a very short time – they were a bit older than me. My mother started by going to prayer groups or cenacles in people’s houses – she had been introduced by a friend. I used to go along.

We lived in Dublin.

My father was away one weekend and my mother decided to have a cenacle in our house. Over 40 people crowded into our sitting room at home. And then a Spanish visionary called Analito arrived. He was a small wirey man with not a word of English. In the middle of it all he started to have a vision of Our Lady. Next thing I knew, I was being ushered over to him by the crowd. He caught me by the ankles and pushed me up over his head. I was being presented to our lady apparently. There was a message for my sister too although she wasn’t in the room. It was all taped and we were given the tape – I had it for a number of years but I’m pretty sure I threw it out about 20 years ago. I wanted all memory of Palmar gone and who was going to translate it without thinking it was very strange.

My father went absolutely nuts when he heard about the prayer group in the house, he came back early and caught the end of it. After everyone had left, he ran around the garden like a crazy man hiding my mother’s statues in the flower beds.

My mother soon after arranged a trip to Palmar – it was part of a pilgrimage – there would have been about 30 Irish. I went with her.
I had never been out of Ireland so for me it was amazing. Palmar for me was one very dusty street, with houses on either side and no pathways. At the very end of the long street there was the village which was not a square but opened out into a square like grid system of streets.

We never went in there except once as there were bars and the cinema and all these things were considered not good. Also a lot of the locals did not like these pilgrims coming and you could get into trouble in the village.

The house we stayed in was like a youth hostel – bunk beds everywhere and a communal cooking area. Amen in one house and women in another. In the morning the smell of bread from the bakery ( small house where the lady baked and sold it ) was fantastic and I lived on Miranda orange over there.

At night, the old ladies would sit outside their houses and chat – they would all be dressed in black – they would shout down the street to each other. There might be a cow tied up against one house and a courting couple by the side of another.
On our first visit, I clearly remember doing a night vigil in the dark outside. Maybe about 100 people only. I was very near Clemente Domingues Gomez as he was then. Within feet of him and he fell to his knees in the dark and had a vision. For me he was really frightening looking, as his eyes were stitched down very crudely – you could clearly see there was nothing in the sockets. The skin was pulled taught. No eye patch, false eyes or glass eyes to cover anything up. I can’t remember this early on if he had gloves, but certainly later he wore white gloves and they were blood stained in the centre as he was supposed to have the stigmata.
It may have been at this time, but I remember going into the area that would become the Basilica but it was only an enclosure with a large metal gate. I can’t remember anything indoors on that visit as we were praying outdoors. To enter the enclosure we would first walk up the dust street and then off road through a field track to the metal gate. I remember near the gate there was locals who spat and threw little stones. We would go as a group for safety and then knock and a priest would let us in. At that time, there was certainly one very large hammer and sickle drawn on the wall outside – it would have been 4 foot in diameter. The locals had obviously put it there.

On other visits, the basilica was more complete. Although for me it always looked a bit skeletal, just the shape of it.
There was a large concourse outside – just an empty space surrounded by a very high wall/ barrier. Then the Basilica itself was huge – it would fit maybe 2000 . In my mind it was bigger than anything I had seen before. I’m thinking back nearly 40 years now so I could be wrong. There were side alters with priests practising saying mass. A very large altar at the top.

. We were there one time at Easter celebrations after Clemente became Pope. Every night he was carried high on a very ornate chair on a platform held up by priests. He was always as far as I remember in elaborate white and gold buttoned long coats. He was a small round man, with a round face.

I might have been 10 at this stage. My mother and I would do as many night vigils as we were able. She had made herself a brown hooded cloak. brown was the ‘ in ‘ colour in Palmar.
When I got too tired I would hide under it and go asleep. But I had an unusual way to go asleep a bit like counting sheep. I would sit in the Basilica and all the bishops and cardinals would be sitting on their seats on the alter in lines at the back – I remember about 30/ 40 at this stage. They had large pink hats and as the went asleep themselves the hats would slip and then they might make a start and wake up. So I would count how many sleeping cardinals and bishops were there. Eventually, I would nod off myself. Even at that stage I knew this was some scene for any 10 year old to witness.

On one of the trips to Spain, I would have been 10 or 11 I made my confirmation. My father went absolutely ballistic when my mother told him, as he drove out of the airport on the way home,

Anyway, and I know some will find this maybe offensive, but I made it again when my school class made it a few years later. My theory was that one of them was wrong! My father, my brothers and sisters came. My mother did arrange the clothes to wear .., guess what a brown suit! I was bringing Palmar with me for the day!

It was my survival instinct kicking in that I was confirmed twice – I don’t think it did me any harm – I was terrified lightening would strike me or something when I got the oil the second time round! When you were in Palmar you were trained to have a vivid imagination!

Back in Dublin at this time – we had mass or prayer meetings depending on the availability of a priest. Eventually, we had a priest for Ireland and he travelled around. Mass was either in Santry or over a butchers in Pearse street. I won’t mention any names here but people who were part of it will know.

All this time, I kept my Palmar life separate from my friends and school. I remember my English teacher, a nun, used to say you can never write properly of you don’t write about what you know.
It used to put the fear of God in me – if I wrote about what I know – a family life that a complete disaster and a very unorthodox religion – I wanted to get away from it – not write about it!

Under my school clothes I wore a huge 4by 3 inch cross and a 4 by 3 inch scapular with the Holy Face on it. Changing for gym time was a challenge – I am sure my friends thought I was extremely odd. I was at a reunion a few years ago and I did ask one of them and she just remembered me as painfully shy. But that wasn’t me at all, I just had to make sure no one got too close, visited my home and didn’t see me on a Sunday. I’m sure they wondered why I dressed oddly.

When I was14 my brother was getting married and of course, my mother and I were not going to be allowed go. Well at that stage and at 14, I could see that any religion that puts between families is no religion at all. My mother begged me to go to confession first. I remember it well. Confession was heard at the top of the stairs, door on the right in Pearse street and Fr Escholastico a Scottish priest was waiting to hear what I had to say. He told me the devil was in my head and that I shouldn’t listen to him. Well that really nailed it for me and I was gone. My mother used to some up for a few weeks on Sunday mornings and kiss my eyelids so I might see the light. But I stayed in bed and it passed in a few weeks .
The very first Sunday I went to the local church and I have always gone to mass since, by the way. The first year I hadn’t a clue of the words, when to stand or sit. And to be honest it was probably about 10 years before I took communion in the hand.

I’ll write again some time even though I was left it , it was still a huge part of my life and made life so complicated, as my mother was a complete devotee.

Yesterday we published the letter from the executive secretary of the Bishop’s Conference Gearóid Dullea. Today we are publishing a post by Mick Power who was present in Achill on the day the Archbishop references in the statement. Mick’s post is just under this introduction.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/10/28/gearoid-dullea-executive-secretary-of-the-bishops-conference-outlines-conclusions-of-meeting-in-maynooth-last-month/

It seemed that a meeting which was about the bishops discussing how to assist the Archbishop in Tuam was in the end not about taking action in the present regarding the serious issues facing us but the Archbishop merely reiterated a statement made in 1998?. While the bishops were meeting last month Fr Gerard McGinnity was in fact in the States giving succour to the Houses of Prayer while being a priest in good standing here in Ireland. Having been in touch with Tuam after the bishop’s meeting in June in Maynooth it is clear they are minded to preserve their current position of doing nothing about the open sore which is the House of Prayer. This is based on the argument that they do not recognise the House of Prayer and as a result feel no obligation to do anything further. They do not wish go beyond this 2009 document which is hard to find on their web site.

http://www.tuamarchdiocese.org/category/archdiocese/statements_house_of_prayer_achill/

We have heard that due to the upcoming Synod in Rome this item was hardly given any attention at the September meeting and will be given much more time at the upcoming December meeting of the bishops.

As the Director is meeting Archbishop Martin next week, he sought clarification from the Archdiocese of Tuam about their position yesterday so he was clear about the two separate issues facing us now.

1. The issue of the continuance of Christina Gallagher in the Diocese and the fact that people are coming from around Ireland and the world to her under the assumption that she is a Catholic in good standing. The fact that the Achill House is a private business entity and is not recognised is really of no consequence. The issue is, she is claiming to be a Catholic and nothing in any statement issued by Tuam nullifies this.
2. The important issue of Fr McGinnity not just assisting someone who is not recognised, but going to a diocese where he has been asked to not come is a major blemish on the unity of the Catholic Church. There is no evidence too date that Armagh has any problems with his weekly trips to Mayo. This is the issue for the Archdiocese of Armagh. What are you going to do about it?

Yesterday we took the liberty to contact Tuam about their current stance and we will publish in due course the response we get before our meeting with Archbishop Martin. Obviously points 1 and 2 are separate but also connected.

Dear Mike and friends and all..
Yes it was with some dismay and disappointment that I read the response from the Episcopal Conference today in which Bishop Neary just reiterated a statement which he made back in 1998.

Just to put this into perspective I was present that day on the 16th July 1998 when the statement from the Bishop was released and which I remember very well.
On that particular day crowds descended on the HOP and a document was circulated to all of the pilgrims.This document was the result of an investigation set up by the Archdiocese of Tuam to investigate this whole phenomenon which is the HOP in Achill.
In this statement Bishop Neary stated that there had been no findings of a supernatural nature but that he appreciated that the works of the HOP were in good standing with the Catholic Church.

So therefore he stated that he wished to integrate the HOP into the mainstream running of the Diocese.
So he desired that the HOP be integrated into the parish of Achill and that the HOP be subject to the diocese of Tuam as it was originally intended by Archbishop Cassidy when he opened it in 1993.

It was intended to be a place of retreat for priests to come there contemplate and rejuvenate their spiritual lives.

So then he made the following recommendations.
(1) that the sacraments of the Catholic Church be disallowed in the HOP ie. celebration of the mass, hearing of confessions.and of course those others such as matrimony,baptism, holy orders, confirmation, and the anointing of the sick.
He also stated that he wished to appoint a spiritual director to CG from the diocese of Tuam and that Fr. G Mc.Ginnity should have no further involvement with preaching or saying Mass in the HOP.
He also stated that this should not be a place of pilgrimage for the Catholic faithful.
He then stated that all moneys, donations etc. received within the HOP be submitted to the Archdiocese for perusal by their accountants.

To cut this story short Christina appeared on the podium that day and announced that she had no choice but to close the HOP due to the restrictions which she said she had to endure from Archbishop Neary.

There was much hysteria in the crowds, much crying and sobbing, but CG was remarkably calm as was Fr. Mc.Ginnity.Later that day I witnessed Christina ordering him to remove the Blessed Sacrament from the chapel and I watched him in full vestments take the short journey of just a hundred yards to the parish Church in Achill Sound.At the time I did not realise the significance of this but of course now I know.

Once the Blessed Sacrament is removed the bishop no longer has any jurisdiction over its place of previous residence. This effectively turned the HOP into a private business where she no longer had to be obedient to her bishop and she was now free to spew her vitriol and which she has done so and indeed lined her pockets and destroyed so many people in the process.
I am quite sure that when the bishop required her to produce the financial records she saw red and quickly devised a plan to overcome this new obstacle. The rest is history but there can be no doubt that this cunning plan was aided and abetted by her right hand man Fr. McGinnity.

God Bless….Mick Power

I wrote yesterday:

Joan thanks for this remarkable story, yes I am sure former Palmarians will receive great comfort and succour from reading it. You have not only used your mind but the meaning and emotion comes through. Keep writing more and it might bring out in others what they experienced. I will publish it now.

Many thanks for your comment. Just to make one more last comment that might help someone out there. Sorry it’s a long one again!

I suppose there was a number of reasons why I left. None of them were due to any theological analysis! Purely practical and for family reasons. Firstly, as I said my brother was getting married and for me it was just to much to be told that I could not go.

But also as I got older, nearing 14, I could see there would be mounting pressure, as I got into my late teens to either, become a nun or get married within Palmar.

The situation at home was difficult, as because of my parents relationship there was very little money spent on the children, even just the basics like food and clothes. I can’t say it wasn’t available, the family wasn’t my fathers priority, and my mother was so nervous when she got some money from him, that it might be the last, she hoarded it in the bank.
My plan was to work hard at school get a good education and get out.
So the Palmar plan for me did not quite fit.
The expectation was that I should be praying not studying and I could see it was going to get really difficult – practically – time wise even.
So I started working at 16 in any spare time I had – holidays and weekends later on, and saved up enough to for University.
All of my siblings left home as early as possible and went as far away as possible. I stayed in Ireland but got a good job.

You can imagine that because of Palmar I made very few friends in my school years because to be honest, they couldn’t call to the house, I dressed a bit weird for the time i.e below the knee skirts no trousers till I left at 14. But even after this because of 8 years of sneaking around and not being open about my life, and of course my parents relationship did not help, I became fiercely independent – and a bit of a loner.
This gradually changed when I left Dublin.

So we settled into a life of me coming home at weekends and Ma going to her mass and saying her rosary every night and doing her thing.
The new rules did come in but there was only so much my mother would discuss. She must have struggled with family versus her religion.
All my siblings kept connected with my mother constantly. As she got older we drove her to mass every Sunday – her mass. Because in our growing up and helping her, we were her allies when times were tough in her relationship with my Dad, that bond was too hard to forsake for her or us.

She started to talk about leaving once the rule came in about burning your books – well, my Ma was a great reader, and reading was her escapism all the years, so this for her, would have been awful.

As soon as she mentioned leaving. My brother and I discussed the best option. He was now home from abroad. What my mother really liked was the Latin mass, so we found an option in a Dublin church – Latin mass with no strings attached. It was perfect for her.

That very first Sunday my brother brought her there instead of Haddon Road – he became ‘ an every Sunday’ mass goer with her ( it wouldn’t come naturally to him ! ) . I was out of Dublin a long time at this stage

She died three years later but it was fantastic she had left beforehand as we could control the funeral. We asked the local priest could we use the local church for a Latin rite mass and he was very accommodating – he couldn’t have been more understanding. So the priest from the mass she attended in town came out and the whole thing including burial was in Latin. We had a quartet play fabulous music she would have approved of.

One of my brothers long term friends who, by the way was Church of Ireland, actually printed off the Latin mass so people could follow it. Just incredible. There were lots of people just came for a look – loads of old nuns that hadn’t seen a Latin burial in years.

And there was one ex Palmar priest my mother knew very well, I recognised him immediately, who clearly had some psychological problems going on and kept shouting out responses during the ceremony. I was actually really pleased he had come and I didn’t care that he had to do that , he showed his respects in his own way.
And anyway, it was quite a spectacle for anyone not used to it, so another bit of unusualness didn’t bother me.

And that was it, the end of an era.

By the way, a Palmar priest came to see her in hospital before she died – I don’t know what he said but she was quite shaken by it She said he was like the devil in black.

I met a woman who was a good friend of my mother’s when in Palmar about 6 months after her death. She had gone for lunch in the Yacht pub in Clontarf after mass in Haddon road. I went up to her and said.

‘ Hi xxx , just to let you know my mother died 6 months ago’

Her reply was, ‘ I can’t talk to you, your wearing slacks! ‘ that has always stuck with me. Thats no religion at all -zero empathy.

I am in my late 40’s now and I have come to the realisation that up till 20 or so, your parents are responsible for you but after that you are responsible for yourself. If they have made a complete hames of parenting you, make your own life better – and if you have the honour of having children of your own, never let them be anything less than your priority.

So my own relationship with God? We have had our ups and downs like any friendship. I go to mass every Sunday – with my husband and kids. We see it as being an active part of a rural community rather than too religious. I pray every night for my siblings, in laws and my own family. I fell out with God big time when my first child was born as he was profoundly disabled but then he sent two ‘ of the standard type of child ‘ after. All 3 bring their own personality and joy to the house.

Anyone reading this, I hope it helps. If you are the only one that has left Palmar and the others aren’t talking to you, try to make a life for yourself. We only get one life so make it the best you can and, try to keep contact with family members, even if it is one sided letter writing, so that they know you are there should they ever decide to leave. Support them if they do make that decision – make it as easy as possible to stay out.

My belief , religion should be a moral compass to live your life by, whatever religion it is – but Palmar with all its restrictions and family separations is no moral compass.

Best wishes.

It is clear that regardless of the evidence produced about Christina that shows she is materially benefiting from her private religious business. the proliferation of houses etc. the Catholic Church claims it does not recognise her existence and by some magical means she ceases to exist for them. Consequently they are not going to do anything about his abuse. They along with some media commentators claim they can do nothing and we should report it to the Gardai. Report what to the Gardai? Should we report the Archbishop of Tuam to the Gardai for not warning his members about this scam? Of course not, it is an internal issue of governance which the Catholic Church itself must address. It is only by using the mechanisms of discipline that they can address this. Most of you know that Fr Brian Darcy expressed an opinion about celibacy and was subject to Church discipline. Others like Fr Flannery and Iggy Donovan also were subject to this discipline even though they were not even diocesan priests. In other words we are dealing with a conspiracy here. There is no logical or clear reason why this issue has not been addressed.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2014/08/12/christina-gallagher-is-selling-her-house-at-2-abington-swords-road-malahide-north-county-dublin-d/

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/fake-visionarys-gallaghers-plush-malahide-mansion-is-up-for-sale/

Ireland’s Eye is an old fashioned monthly. You can’t contact them by phone, email or electronic means. The only way to engage is by snail mail run by Dick Hogan.

This is not surprising as it represents the way in which those involved with the House of Prayer operate. They are warned not to read the newspapers or to go near TV as all they will get is attacks on them. They are isolated and can’t see the evidence that is accumulating which shows Christina assisted by Fr McGinnity are running a complete scam. Vulnerable adults are separated from their families and from their funds. They have a need to go there nearly every week as they believe that going there protects them from the terrible things which are going to happen in this world. This why it is a complete waste of time for Diocesan web sites to put up warning on their web sites if that is not followed up by a pastoral strategy which engages these folks. Let me give a couple of examples. If you have a person in your parish who is going regularly to Achill they should be approached and it should be explained to them that they are putting themselves at considerable spiritual risk. Generally these attempts are met by denial and blocking. However, it is important to keep an open dialogue going as some might be reached over time. Also the southern bus journeys every week stop in Knock for communion. This is to give the pilgrims to Achill the idea that they are stopping en route to a Catholic site at a genuine Catholic site. It is important to have  brochures and some framed advertising saying that people going to Achill are in danger as the the House of Prayer has nothing to do with Catholicism. It is a private operation run with the assistance of a priest who is under influence. If going to Achill please do not take communion.

We are going to reply to Ireland’s Eye’ latest report on dialogue Ireland. They give the House of Prayer’s propaganda a free monthly outing the magazine.

Her is is the latest edition:

This a section from a post we wrote in 2011:

Ireland’s Eye is not a publication the Director of DI reads but have seen it occasionally. It has an amazing archive of material on folklore, history and Irish identity which should be preserved for future generations. Alas this will not happen as Dick Hogan the owner has elected to remain a Luddite and does not even have a telephone line to discuss his publication. They do not store their archive digitally and one can only assume this material will be lost. Dick Hogan appears on the web site of the House of Prayer  http://www.christinagallagher.org/en/    to give an endorsement with his wife Margaret of the H of P. The web site is really not intended for the House of Prayer members who are generally warned off using the internet or are of an older generation who are threatened by this medium. It is part of their increasingly frantic efforts at propaganda.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/irelands-eye-is-losservatore-christina/

Note the claim about a brain dead person  here:

Let us be clear when Archbishop Cassidy allowed the House of Prayer to be set up in 1993 he thought he had a visionary who was going to submit to his authority and that Fr McGinnity though from another Archdiocese was there to submit as well.

The Archbishop very soon realised she was not intending to accept his authority and when his successor Michael Neary took over he checked her out and found nothing supernatural in her messages.Though typically diplomatic he suggested those involved were genuine, and though he knows as he has had testimony from whisteblowers which shows she is totally immoral and an addiction to wealth he has not moved from that position.

Archbishop Neary has given her and her so called spiritual adviser the room to develop this private business and they are creaming people for massive sums. This has been in the public domain since Jim Gallagher wrote his book and it was published in 2009. Not one single claim which were covered by eye witness testimony has been challenged.

What people like Dick Hogan, Fr McGinnity and even some bishops do not seem to get is that it does not matter if she has thousands of healings and visions the fact that three issues have not been addressed by her invalidate her claims.

1. She refuses to accept the authority of the Bishop. This is the knock out punch in regard to her being genuine or not.

2. She has accumulated material wealth without visible means to do so. Again there is so much evidence of this.

3. Finally if there is evidence of immorality. That means that there are no grounds for the bishop to take her seriously.

However, there is not only the fact that she is totally unable to pass muster to be accepted as genuine there is the other side of the coin that a bishop that refuses to act with good authority and do something about these issues is like a Garda to whom crime is reported and refuses to act. A bishop in this situation should likely be subject to investigation by the pope.

Why do we say this? The Archdiocese received the advice of one of the leading Canon lawyers in the world Frank Morrisey from Ottawa which suggested that the way to deal with the House of Prayer is to “Not Recognise,” it. This a neat trick but how does not recognising it assist those that are going there thinking it is Catholic? Whether the bishop recognises the private entity is Catholic or not is beside the point. The fact that most people who go there believe it to be Catholic and no one takes the bishop seriously when he acts if it is not there. Also he has had eye witnesses appealing to him for years asking him to intervene and they are told to go onto the web site. That is like a person going into a Garda Station and reporting a crime and been told to go onto the Garda web site. In June we asked to be able to address the bishops about this as we had received excellent advice from Kevin Symonds as to how to address this sorry mess. I will be writing a post on my attempts to communicate with Tuam soon.

Needless to say as someone who has regular contact with the victim families I am not exaggerating in saying that they now find the lack of response of the Catholic Church to this issue even more upsetting than what the House of Prayer has done to them.

If Archbishop Eamon Martin has nothing to report tomorrow but wants to hear my concerns I am afraid to tell the victims families. Many have been depressed following their encounters with Church leaders. I am going to meet the Archbishop who has now had over a year to digest the views I have sent him and those of the eye witnesses. Some can’t even write anymore they have so little hope.

Really the only issue to address is what he intends to do about Fr McGinnity. Depending on what we hear tomorrow will guide us forward and will set the tone for how the the Catholic Church will be understood by the people of Ireland.

Read the full text on the issue of Dialogue Ireland:

IRELAND’S EYE NOVEMBER 2015 PAGE 40

ANOTHER LYING ATTACK
It becomes nauseating when newspapers or other communications media and those who manipulate them, treat the public like fools, and it becomes obvious that they
are merely repeating the same old deceptive and distorted material, time after time, in their efforts to, if possible, destroy the apostolate of Christina Gallagher through the
House of Prayer. The latest ‘episode’ in the Sunday World’s eight year campaign of re-runs and distortion, provided another perfect example. The newspaper “exclusive” declared that Christina Gallagher was sunning herself in the US, at the expense of other people, even describing where she was and would be. In reality, Mrs. Gallagher was not in the US at all, but in her home in Ireland, under medical care. But the truth doesn’t matter for such people.

The latest attack was prompted and featured Mike Garde of Dialogue Ireland, whose website’s close links with the newspaper are now so well known, having carried
each tabloid ‘episode’ in full for eight years, and he calls on their camera people when it suits also. Whenever the Sunday tabloid runs another self-styled ‘exclusive’ Mr.
Garde also seems able to have his TV “cult”attack on the visionary and her spiritual director re-‘run by TV3. Was it for the thirteenth time recently? All this, neatly ‘arranged’ to coincide with smaller pieces in other papers,” promoting Mr. Garde’s deceitful ‘agenda.’ One wonders who is funding it all?

Here you will read our detailed response to their claims:

IRELAND’S EYE NOVEMBER 2015 PAGE 40
ANOTHER LYING ATTACK

It becomes nauseating when newspapers or other communications media and those who manipulate them, treat the public like fools, and it becomes obvious that they
are merely repeating the same old deceptive and distorted material, time after time, in their efforts to, if possible, destroy the apostolate of Christina Gallagher through the House of Prayer.

Here I am treated as a kind of puppet master with direct access to the media and that I also control the content of what is published and that I have the ability to get TV3 to keep showing programmes at my insistence.In fact other than Jim Gallagher who has no interest in theological ideas but keeps finding houses that Christina acquires and has shown up the leadership of the Catholic Church to be deeply compromised in regard to their response to what is in reality elder abuse. However, some other newspapers have followed the story but seem totally afraid of defamation. Groups like the House of Prayer start every response with a charge of Defamation. I note the continued use of the term Libel which was abolished in 2009. There is now a complete lack of investigative journalism and the Mission to Prey debacle has created a silencing effect.

The new group think is not not checking the story properly, but in fact not doing the story at all.

RTE Liveline has done some work on the House of Prayer but in recent programmes has only given their side of the story.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/eamon-darcy-a-strong-advocate-of-christina-gallagher-with-joe-duffy-on-liveline/

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/rte-denies-gagging-liveline-over-comments-on-visionary/

There was some religious programme on the HofP in around 1998, but the most recent programme on RTE was on Prime time in April 2008.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2009/07/03/house-of-prayer-rte-prime-time-may-2008/

The latest ‘episode’ in the Sunday World’s eight year campaign of re-runs and distortion, provided another perfect example. The newspaper “exclusive” declared that Christina Gallagher was sunning herself in the US, at the expense of other people, even describing where she was and would be.

Perhaps Ireland’s Eye might like to tell us about Christina’s houses. Why do they not run a feature each month on her various properties? Also an inside look at the Achill property?

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/11/02/christina-cant-sell-mansion-by-jim-gallagher-sunday-world-november-1-2015/

Coming to the US trip it is clear that Dick has not actually done too much research.

On September 23 last I report that Christina and Fr McGinnity are going to the States.

Note the referential nature of the description and the purpose, “They will be available for prayers and spiritual talks.” Let us assume they invited themselves but let us look at what this signifies for the unity of the Catholic Church? First we have a schismatic woman visionary who is in open rebellion against the Archbishop of Tuam being accompanied by a priest who is in good standing with the Archdiocese of Armagh. He is undermining Catholic orthodoxy by consorting, enabling and giving her movement support.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/09/23/gerard-mcginnity-christina-gallagher-on-us-junket/

My source was her web site and I used the the term junket as my informants tell me these US trip are money spinners.

This is the actual post where the public can make up their own minds about Jim’s statement. It was in the context of his article about the Bishops Conference. He did not know at that stage she was sick but he had talked to people about her US trips which had massive shopping and leisure aspects to them.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/09/27/bishops-conference-set-to-discuss-christina-gallaghers-prayer-empire-at-last-by-jim-gallagher-sunday-world/

We then received a tip off that Christina was not in the States even though it said she was on their web site.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/house-of-prayer-christina-has-gift-of-bilocation-denies-she-is-in-the-usa/

So instead of modifying their web site they accused us of making up that she was in the States. Not only that but after Jim Gallagher wrote his article in the Sunday World they claimed I had written the article in the Sunday World?

Today’s outrageous attack by Mike Garde in the Sunday World announcing that Christina Gallagher is sunning herself in the United States and enjoying herself at the expense of other people shows how the same so-called “authority” is entirely disinterested in facts or truth.This is complete and utter slander. First of all Christina Gallagher is not in the United States she is in her home in Ireland because of ill-health – brought upon her by the likes of Mike Garde cruelly hounding her and publishing deceptive material which has no basis in reality.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/09/29/the-unattributed-response-to-the-sunday-world-article-to-the-misattributed-mike-garde-instead-of-jim-gallager/

In reality, Mrs. Gallagher was not in the US at all, but in her home in Ireland, under medical care. But the truth doesn’t matter for such people.

Yes because we got intelligence from our resources they had to admit that Christina had stayed at home, even though it said she was away on their web site.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/09/30/the-reason-for-christina-gallaghers-not-going-to-the-states-is-quite-serious-she-had-an-operation-on-her-throat/

The latest attack was prompted and featured Mike Garde of Dialogue Ireland, whose website’s close links with the newspaper are now so well known, having carried
each tabloid ‘episode’ in full for eight years, ……..

As part of our mission we work closely with the media.

To compile and assess current documentation and news reports on the topics we study and, by way of our web site and Blog, to provide the public access to up-to-date information as well as links to significant sites within the field. Our role is not journalism as such, but rather we retain the archive of articles from a variety of media for the benefit of those that use our site through the information we hold. We have no commercial objective and our aims are totally charitable.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/about/

…..and he calls on their camera people when it suits also.

This shows that Fr McGinnity is the source of these articles,

“….I reminded him that when I was a student at Maynooth he was the junior dean. I reminded him that at Christmas one year I was asked to be Santa for the Student Christmas Party. I brought some of the women students up to the dorm and he came out and said if we did not get moving he would call the Gardai. I said to him I had a lovely tricycle for him for his Christmas present but because he was so naughty would give it to a deserving child.

At that point I was going to suggest a public debate with him on the House of Prayer when a journalist took a photograph of us and he freaked and thought he had been set up. It really did not matter as it was clear he did not want to discuss any further….”

It is clear Fr McGinnity is referring to this incident. In fact the free lance journalist was hoping to do a story on the attempt to dialogue with him. Her photograph from behind me and him ended any hope of that. Also he had met met her before and was not impressed. She is to be commended as she is seen in this photograph of Christina at the airport. So as I wrote above he was glad to have an excuse to do a runner.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/visit-of-di-trustees-and-members-of-house-of-prayer-support-group-to-knockbridge-parish-church-on-sunday-august-16-2015/

Whenever the Sunday tabloid runs another self-styled ‘exclusive’ Mr. Garde also seems able to have his TV “cult”attack on the visionary and her spiritual director re-‘run by TV3. Was it for the thirteenth time recently?

I must ask TV3 if I could get my fees for being Director of cult programmes. Here the paranoia  reaches a crescendo. They actually think I have the influence to direct TV3 when to put programmes on. I often get calls from friends saying they have seen me on a documentary which came out in 2011. It looks at the Palmarians, the House of Prayer and Scientology.

Because it was so good it has been repeated on a number of occasions, I believe the HofP person who says it is the thirteenth time.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/tv3-irelands-secret-cults/

All this, neatly ‘arranged’ to coincide with smaller pieces in other papers,” promoting Mr. Garde’s deceitful ‘agenda.’

Certainly my agenda is transparent bringing your reign of undue influence on mainly vulnerable elderly persons to an end.

One wonders who is funding it all?

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/donations-fees/

We are a registered Charity and unlike the House of Prayer which lost its charitable status in so far is that it is not a charity but a private company dedicated to enriching its founder Christina Gallagher.

You can get any answers you require from this web site:

https://www.charitiesregulatoryauthority.ie/

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2011/11/24/irelands-eye-is-losservatore-christina/

Below you will find the correspondence between the Director of Dialogue Ireland and the Archdiocese of Tuam. We have tried for years to get a meeting with the Archbishop and his spokesperson Fintan Monahan blocks all communication. We have tried for some time to break this log jam without success.

Thu, 29 Oct 2015 16:40:29

Dear Fintan,

As you know I have been sending mails to you to the wrong address for years.
A month ago I sent you a mass of mails and would be grateful if you could acknowledge reception of them. I also told you I was going to be meeting Archbishop Martin next week and wondered if I could meet up with Archbishop Neary to discuss the issues around the House of Prayer as well.

You might have noticed Gearoíd Dullea proposed that I contact you and Armagh in early June.

Whether the Archbishop can meet or not it would be good to receive an update in regard to the book I sent you by Kevin Symonds which proposes a theological process which goes beyond your current canonical position of non recognition. Also which canon lawyer do you rely on in the Archdiocese and who would be the current theologian assisting the Archbishop in the task of evaluating the actions of the House of Prayer? The reason I raise this is in the letter I received from IEC yesterday it said that Archbishop Neary updated the bishops on the current position and then proceeded to give them as news what was a press release made in 1998? I am very much aware that you and Christina Gallagher regard the HofP as a private business, nonetheless she is still drawing people to Achill on the basis she is a Catholic in good standing. There is nothing in any of your statements too date that questions her bone fides.
Furthermore, every week people stop in Knock en route to Achill for communion having felt that their local parish does not adequately represent Catholicism, otherwise why would they go to Achill on an 8 hour round trip bus journey? They have been led to believe that Christina represents a deeper more profound version of Catholicism. Nothing in their reception in Knock gives them any other idea. They are clearly as vulnerable adults under undue influence.

We try to explain this here:
https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/about/cultism/
https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/category/christian/house-of-prayer/

My estimates is that there are about 20, 000 persons affected by this scam in Ireland alone. The book which you have had by Jim Gallagher for over 6 years gives clear evidence which could be used to determine Christina’s destiny. Also I talked to an eye witness yesterday who confirmed to me that eye witnesses have visited you to give evidence of simony, financial scams, adultery, the false use of the stigmata etc., the use of magical mystification to extract money from Catholics. They asked you to act without success too date. I stress this is not an issue for the Gardai but for the competent ecclesiastical authority to act on as it is involves the use of Religion to extract money. Please do not use the logic of Sinn Fein which tells people to go to the Gardai when it is clear they are so under the influence they will not do so.
Also the way this triangle works is this. Christina managed to bring a very intelligent priest who was very vulnerable under undue influence when he had been a whistle blower and was treated with contempt. He in turn gives the authoritative nod to what she is doing and vulnerable Catholics therefore believe Christina is genuine and flock to the place. The local economy thrives in the context of this business and finally loyal Catholics from all over the country and in the USA and Mexico are taken in. Meanwhile she has enriched herself and added property to property. You have done nothing other than say you can do nothing.
While the Episcopal Conference was on last month Fr McGinnity was actually undermining the unity of the Catholic Church in the States by actually advancing an recognised private business. Now it is an issue in so far as on your web site you have not done anything to warn anyone that they as Catholics should not go near the HofP and place on the public record that Fr McGinnity is not to enter your diocese. You claim you have it on your site. You do hidden as anyone can see.
Here is your site and do not forget these elderly people are told the newspapers and the internet are of the devil so the likelihood of them looking at is limited.
It still does not do anything that anyone would see as a warning to the faithful in fact you actually say they are acting in good faith. Please read your documents which are totally out of date and do not take into account evidence you have in your possession that they are not.

http://www.tuamarchdiocese.org/

How would you know there is a problem in Achill from your web site?
You then have to click on Archdiocese and then in the menu the statements about the HofP are the second last item.

http://www.tuamarchdiocese.org/2009/12/house-of-prayer-achill/

In conclusion I will copy in Archbishop Martin as I will be meeting him in two capacities next week,
1. As head of the Episcopal Conference and as a result will hear from him about the how the bishops are assisting you in Tuam to resolve a theological and pastoral issue which is Michael Neary is the only competent authority charged with resolving the issue.
2. Secondly as representing the Archdiocese of Armagh where Fr McGinnity is a priest in good standing. Now as I represent over 50 families who have had ongoing loss of affection and communion with loved ones what he is going to do to address the open sore of Fr McGinnity refusing to keep out of your diocese, and also undermining the unity of the Catholic Church by his obstinate support of this clearly fraudulent visionary. Also this affects the Church in the States and Mexico.

                                                Texas House of Prayer.

I will also copy in Gearoíd Dullea.

I as an Anabaptist and the only Christian from any denomination fighting for the victims of the HofP ask you two questions?

What would Jesus say?

Also what would Pope Francis say, and what would have Pope Benedict or Saint John Paul II have said in regard to your pastoral response?

— Regards MIKE GARDE MA DIRECTOR DIALOGUE IRELAND TRUST

Fintan’s reply:

http://www.tuamarchdiocese.org/category/archdiocese/statements_house_of_prayer_achill/
But I need to stop I have already made these points. I would have thought this would have been a normal response, I will bring your concerns to the Archbishop’s attention and we will get back to you with an answer. Also material being on the web site does in no manner answer the request I made to meet him to represent the families who are driven into the ground at your lack of response to a major tragedy. Of course the insult is intended as you have repeated it today.

Just to restate the diocesan position that the Archbishop has issued three public statements on the House of Prayer and the position has not changed since then.  If there is any change on that I will gladly let you know.
I believe you have stated to this position to me on a number of occasions. I know his position and I was asking the Archbishop to meet to discuss his position and for you to answer the questions I have raised questioning this position. I have now sent them to you through correspondence on a number of occasions and you did not even give me the courtesy of a reply. I think the positions Kevin Symonds has advanced certainly makes your current position untenable. I know the Archbishop is a New Testament scholar but surely if he can’t address the issues I am raising you have competent people who can evaluate these issues.
Wishing you a most pleasant weekend.
This type salutation is actually a weapon rather than to be taken seriously. I will certainly have a pleasant weekend if you can actually agree to respond to my genuine attempt to dialogue with the serious issues that in my estimation affect over 20,000 people in this country and beyond. A genuine response also includes the right of you to say you refuse to engage. For a Catholic Archdiocese may I suggest the Petrine call is highly relevant in this context.

1 Peter – Chapter 3:15 Simply proclaim the Lord Christ holy in your hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason for the hope that you have.
—

I met with Archbishop Martin for just over an hour in a wide ranging conversation concerning the House of Prayer. We both came away with a very clear understanding of the others positions. I gave him a book on Church Discipline and also shared with him a copy of Ireland’s Eye where he could see the amount of buses going from throughout Ireland to Achill. I made the point that it was interesting that though people go from the Archdiocese of Armagh it is not listed as one of the pick up points. It is covered by the bus entitled the North South bus.

That is to protect Fr McGinnity from censure. I made the point that the Catholic Church has been swift to act on perceived heresy or actions deemed unorthodox. One thinks of Iggy O’Donovan, Brian Darcy and Fr Flannery. Yet in regard to the House of Prayer there is a code of Omerta which is ongoing for 23 years.

He certainly was very unclear as to his perspective on the Catholic Church’s position on visionaries and it was absolutely transparent that his position was not governed by any objective criteria. I pointed out the failure of Cardinal Brady to act at all and it only became clear last year in correspondence with him why this was the case.

Cardinal Brady saw no problem with the prayers of the House of Prayer and saw no problem with Fr McGinnity trespassing into another diocese in which he is not welcome. Just as in the area of children there will likely be issues related to Elder abuse which will fall into the area of negligence.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/part-one-of-the-correspondence-between-the-director-of-dialogue-ireland-and-cardinal-brady/

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/part-two-of-the-correspondence-between-the-director-of-dialogue-ireland-and-cardinal-brady/

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/the-last-word-final-response-to-cardinal-brady-emeritus-archbishop-of-armagh/

Archbishop Martin had received a volume of correspondence and I will be giving you in later posts the points being made to the Archbishop. One will be in the persons name the other name changed to protect their anonymity. This photograph might bring home to him a point that many made namely vulnerable elderly people who are estranged from their families. Obviously this represents a day of great joy. People affected by the HofP have no such days to celebrate.

I pointed out to him and I know that many who had written to him from the HofP seeking for him to maintain the status quo. Unbelievably, he was inclined to treat their interventions as if they were a genuine movement. So now those affected are making the point that the pastoral failure of the Catholic Church is now making them despair and they have developed a massive anger for the shepherds of the flock. In summary the failure of the Catholic Church is now seen as WORSE than the original abuse from the HofP.

I pointed out that there had been a great dishonesty in regard to the Archdioceses. Those seeking answers from Tuam are referred to Armagh and vice versa.

There are two separate jurisdictional issues.

1. The House of Prayer in Achill where Archbishop Neary is the only one with the authority to address the issues there. He has refused to act period.
2. The issue of the breach of the unity of the Catholic Church by Fr Gerard McGinnity. How? Support for an unrecognised visionary. Knowingly aiding and abetting in simony by fundraising by Fr McGinnity. Evidence has been presented to Cardinal Brady and others with no action having been taken. Giving succour to other Houses of Prayer in the US and Mexico. Vacating his parish every Saturday to undermine the unity of the Catholic Church in this country. This is the only disciplinary issue which is relevant to Armagh. I supplied a copy of the book Immaculate Deception years ago to Cardinal Brady and to all bishops in September which outlines in detail what has happened and I was asked for new evidence. If something is wrong 6 years ago you do not need new evidence. From our conversation I formed the opinion he had not read the book. If it was not read then he could claim to not have to act. However, he has had so many private testimonies there can be no doubt he can’t claim ignorance of the facts and that he can’t act. Archbishop Martin was also totally confused in that instead of taking responsibility for these issues using internal disciplinary processes. He instead tried to divert from the Churches responsibility and proposed the use criminal law. In other words they want the police to investigate issues in which the secular authority have no jurisdiction. Is the House of Prayer Catholic? If it is then it should be recognised and if it is not Gerard McGinnity should be withdrawn and helped to recover from the loss of his free will and given assistance to break with Christina. 

The Archbishop seemed unsure as to the notion of undue influence. He seemed to think the the handing over of cash, the bus trips and the need to find salvation in Achill are all the expression of free will. I assume having grown up in Derry he must know how political groups take over their members minds? How do ISIL manage to get people to drop everything and join them? The House of Prayer has exactly the same effect on people, and the evidence is there. Two people went to see the Archbishop last May and described what had happened to them. Hearing they hear not and so these are destroyed by inaction.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/about/cultism/

So I came away from the meeting very clear where this is going and after consulting with the families of those affected we will put into operation the next strand of our campaign. We know exactly where the Archbishop stands.

I met someone else while in Dundalk deeply rooted in the local area and at the heart of the Archdiocese who when I told them where we were at spoke in very clear terms like this.

“There is a big trunk and they are trying to keep the lid on, but the more they try to keep the lid on they do not notice that the bottom of the trunk is breaking open and the guts is spilling out!”

Here we present two testimonies by people affected by the House of Prayer who are appealing to the Archbishop of Armagh to act in regard to the House of Prayer.

Both have been edited for confidentiality purposes. One is by Mick Power, the other from an anonymous person who has had serious problems due to the House of Prayer.

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/11/06/meeting-of-the-director-of-dialogue-ireland-with-archbishop-martin-at-the-dundalk-institute-of-technology/

Covering note sent the next day to Archbishop Martin.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Michael Power
Date: Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 11:31 AM
Subject: HOP Achill
To: admin@aracoeli.com

Dear Archbishop Martin,

I hope you will read this letter carefully and absorb its contents as this may well reflect the last hope that we as “Victims” have of seeking a final resolution to this horrific scenario which is called the HofP. I would prefer it be called the House of Fear as so many of us have lost contact with our loved ones and where parents have lost contact with their children and vice versa. This whole scenario must surely speak for itself !!

Can I just say that I have never met this extraordinary man Mike Garde in the flesh but he has been a huge source of solace to all of us who are victims in this horrific travesty that which is the “House of Prayer” on Achill Island. He has kept us together when we threw our hands in despair and wept at the response of the Catholic Church to our pleas for intervention and the hope of becoming united with our loved ones once again.

On a sterner note there is no love or charity preached in this place only filth and self aggrandisement and which has no place in the Gospel of Jesus Christ..

Jesus and his blessed mother are portrayed as these menacing figures who are constantly threatening us pilgrims and our families with hell fire and damnation if we do not heed the words of Christina Gallagher and what is much worse is backed up and supported by her right hand man who is Fr.McGinnity.

Heresy? Blasphemy?

I think that there can be no doubt in this scenario?

I leave this in your hands Archbishop and can only hope that the tragedy of what has happened in so many peoples lives can soon be brought back to reconciliation and once more able to live the true Gospel which is of course the Good News that is of Jesus Christ.

With that I wish you all of Gods Blessings….

Mick Power

Mick and his wife Paula were deeply involved with the House of Prayer. Now after Paula’s serious brush with cancer they are trying help those affected.

Mon, Nov 2, 2015 at 12:46 AM
Dear Archbishop Martin,

My name is Mick Power and I come from Dungarvan Co. Waterford. I am 44 yrs of age and married to my beloved wife Paula for the past twenty years. I come from a deeply rooted Catholic background. My Uncle Michael who is recently deceased is Fr. Michael Hurley SJ who is best known as the Father of “Ecumenism” here in Ireland. My aunt Mary known in the religious life as Mother Imelda was the Abbess of St Marys Abbey, Glencaim, Co.Waterford for over thirty years also now sadly deceased.

My last remaining uncle is Fr. James Hurley SJ who is now 89yrs. of age and spent the most of his life as a missionary priest in Hong Kong and is now in retirement in Milltown Dublin. My mother who was the youngest of the family passed away just one year ago. The reason I include this detail is to assure you that I am not in any way Anti Catholic and what I am about to relay to you is a journey of recovery from the evil spell that which is the House of Prayer in Achill run by Christina Gallagher and her right hand man Fr.Gerard McGinnity.

Can I just say before I give you my first hand account of my experience with the HOP that last Tuesday I took a day off work (which was not easy for me after the bank holiday weekend) when l was invited to meet the Bishop of Cloyne and spent almost two hours with him relaying my experience first hand as a victim and representing others who are also victims of this evil travesty called the HOP. Also as I am told that you are to meet with Mike Garde shortly that I can only say that this extraordinary man has battled our cause for so many years and as an expert on cultist behaviour for many of us we can recognise the whole phenomenon of undue influence which has destroyed so many families where parents do not communicate with their children and indeed in many cases their grandchildren and vice versa where children in despair loose contact with their parents.
There is a phrase in the bible which says “By their fruits shall we know them”. Well dear Archbishop can I just say that the fruits in this case are like a rotten barrel where so many peoples lives have been destroyed and all in the name of this evil woman’ and her accomplice Fr. McGinnity.
I will recount very briefly my initial experience of the HOP which began in 1997.That year my wife Paula and I had to endure the loss of our only child Tommy who was five years of age and who died from a rare form of meningitis. We were very distraught as you can imagine and somebody recommended that we go to the
HOP in Achill Island. There we listened to the sonorous and almost hypnotic voice of Fr. Mc.Ginnity who had just gone through a weird convulsion during the Mass* and started to tell us about the messages given by The Blessed Virgin to Christina Gallagher which was all quite terrifying with messages about chastisements where fire would fall from the sky and the most of humanity would perish and that the only place to be saved would be the HOP in Achill.
He also spoke about the “mark of the beast,” where every person on the planet would be required to take a microchip in their hand and that only in the HOP in Achill would people be granted total remission of sin and be guaranteed a free exit to heaven at the time of death. He then proceeded to tell us about a picture which was commissioned by Our Lady through CG and which grants protection from the terrible times ahead at the cost of €250 per picture. This picture which I always disliked which shows a picture of Our Lady with blood pouring down her face has been sold right across the world at huge profit. This is blasphemy and heresy. I recall a lady who could not afford the €25 for the picture and instead asked to buy a small postcard version for just five euro but was told that only the picture for €250 euro would give her the promise of eternal life in heaven and protect her from the terrible chastisements promised by CG through the words of Our Lady.

I will now recall from my meeting with Bishop Crean last Tuesday and what we discussed. I first of all dealt with the theology being preached by Fr. Mc Ginnity and as I could go on all day I have picked a few gems from the mouth of McGinnity.
(1) World War 3 is imminent and only those who have supported the HOP will be saved. (2) God is so angry with the world that he is about to destroy this planet called earth but again the place of refuge will be the HoP. (3) That is the House of Prayer mentioned in the Gospel????

(4) Jesus speaks to Christina in relation to her latest conquest i.e. a new house of prayer in Texas where he states that if people do not cough up the money to pay for its completion which amounted to eight hundred thousand dollars he would destroy the whole state of Texas. Needless to say the money was paid and Texas is still standing. Bishop this IS total heresy and blasphemy. Please comment?
(5) I was present one day when Christina Gallagher addressed the crowds and told us that Our Lady pestered her to write a book naming all those people who had ever spoken against her and it was to be published in such a way that those named in this book would know how much they had offended not just Our Lady herself but Almighty God also.

What heresy is this where our lady is portrayed as this vindictive woman out to seek revenge and more so that Fr.McGinnity promoted this message as though it came from Our Lady.

I also wish to recall a day when I was at the HofP back in around 2004 when Fr.McGinnity encouraged a group of us to march with placards and with the caption McGinnity for Bishop and that this was to take place outside your palace in Armagh. It did take place even though I was not present as I had lost all faith in the wicked ways of Christina Gallagher and her HofP.at this stage.
I know Bishop that I have only skimmed the bare surface of what Mc.Ginnity is doing and what he is preaching. When I spoke to Bishop Crean last week I told him this man has to be stopped in his tracks and needs to be detoxed or helped to break from the influence of Christina Gallagher as it is perfectly obvious that he is totally under the control of this evil woman and spews out her filth with no obvious conscience or it is obvious that he is totally deluded and therefore requires help.
I will now address the other issues which according to a recent book issued by Kevin Symonds and which has the imprimatur of the Catholic Church and in which he states the obvious and indeed the qualities required to authenticate a “visionary” in good standing with the Catholic church.

As I have already presented the gross theology that is associated with place and indeed could go on and on but I have little time on my hands. So therefore I will deal with the other issues that define a true visionary within the Catholic Church.

Rejection of the authority of the bishop

Refusal to submit to her bishop is a game changer and is sufficient grounds to indicate dshe is not

Financial Gain.

This is perfectly obvious in lieu of her multi million portfolio which she has acquired through the donations made to the House of prayer. Her properties have been well documented and at present from my knowledge she is now living in a huge property in Dublin City West. Her other properties are above all belief with every luxury possible.

Immoral Behaviour.

This woman has been separated from her husband since 1995 and has conducted an illicit affair with a guy called Chawky White who is an English chap and with this I do not wish to delve any further into cheap gossip but I can assure you that the facts here are correct and not exactly the behaviour of a visionary. If there is one thing certain here and that is of corruption where CG and Fr.McGinnity have preyed on the
most vulnerable people of our society that is of our innocent elderly folk who cling on to their faith as they once knew it.
Fr. McGinnity conducted many seminars in this country over the years where he procured huge sums of money supposedly at the request of Our Blessed Lady and which ultimately ended up lining the pockets of Christina Gallagher. I will conclude now but I beg of you Archbishop Martin to bring to an end this whole evil travesty which is this phenomenon called the House Of Prayer in Achill. All our families have been affected and in so many ways have been destroyed and at a conservative estimate recently up to thirty thousand people are suffering due to the vitriol which is being spewed out from the voice of Fr.McGinnity and of course as from the mouth of Christina Gallagher relaying these vicious messages from Our Lady. The conclusion of my meeting with Bishop Crean was simple and straightforward. The view I put to him was that the only solution to this problem was for you to stop Fr.McGinnity travelling to Achill every weekend and look after his own parish and even he went so far as to say that if he became disobedient to your wish and command that therefore his “Faculties” be removed and he be silenced from preaching fodder
which can only be resolved by his excommunication. However that is an extreme measure but I do believe that he is under the direct influence of Christina Gallagher and needs professional help to break this connection. Can I say to you now Archbishop Martin that on behalf of the people of Ireland I am pleading with you to find a resolution to this problem? There can be no good fruits in this scenario when families, parents, children and even grandchildren have been ripped apart, destroyed and all in the name of our precious faith and religion.

With That I extend my very good wishes.

Mick Power

*Mass celebrated there till 1998

3.11.15

Dear Archbishop Martin,
I summarised my personal situation to you several times in the past, my mother was and is so heavily involved and under undue influence of Christina Gallagher and Fr McGinnity and the House of Prayer that she can no longer live a ‘normal’ life, she lives in fear of catastrophe and prays constantly, as a family; we have lost her, no communication, no affection, no nothing, all gone. This is because she believes so strongly and implicitly in the House of Prayer and the rest of the family and friends see it for the Major Scam that it is.
My mother listened for years to Christina’s apocalyptic messages of fear supposedly from ‘Our Lady’, My mother now thinks she is living through the ‘chastisement’ that Christina talks about. She is literally living in agony. I think she has already had a nervous breakdown because of this. My sibling died from a sudden illness this year, aged mid-thirties. This has caused my mother great suffering, she thinks this was a punishment for her, she believes she is a victim to accept the pain of those who do not believe in the alleged messages from ‘Our Lady’ derived from Christina Gallagher. Her psychological state is extremely vulnerable, it is difficult to think objectively when you are grieving. She is extremely isolated and terrified because she does not spend time with people who do not believe in the messages derived from Christina Gallagher and the belief system of the HofP which is encouraged by the HofP. These circumstances make it very difficult for her to exercise her free will. To say that our family is have reached the end of our tether, simply does not do it justice. I nearly had a nervous breakdown over it, it is extremely difficult watching a person you love go through this knowing that it is a scam. At my siblings funeral, there were mass cards from the House of Prayer (with pictures of the altar at the House of Prayer) signed by Fr McGinnity. I have had arguments with my mother where she is saying that Fr McGinnity is such a good priest he could not be wrong about Christina/HofP. It is Fr McGinnity’s involvement in the HofP that convinces my mother that this scam is genuine.
I went to speak to Fr McGinnity in August. I asked him many questions about his involvement in the House of Prayer. I asked, why as it is not recognised by the Catholic Church, does he support this private entity? To me, he is clearly under the influence, explaining that it was made private organisation in the hope that more people could worship there, he claimed that I simply did not understand Christina’s messages or the ‘holiness’ about the House of Prayer, the salvation it offers. He mocked me when I could not recite the words of Archbishop Neary about no evidence of supernatural phenomena. He said that the fear my mother experiences could be a result of reading her bible. I let him continue on with his answers but they were at odds with the facts about what Archbishop Neary meant in his statement and what is known to be true about Christina and her properties accumulated from donations from her followers. It was impossible to have a meaningful conversation with him about it, he had the fixed view that he was in the right and I was wrong.
My question remains, what are you going to do about Fr. McGinnity’s involvement in the House of Prayer?
I am furious about the stance the Archdiocese of Tuam is taking to this situation. The House of Prayer is operating like it is a Catholic organisation in their Diocese, i.e. the people attending, do believe it is Catholic, yet this Diocese is not taking due care and responsibility in making it widely known in all their parish churches that this is a scam. Why? Furthermore, Fr. McGinnity is regularly preaching at the House of Prayer which is in their Diocese when he has been asked not to. Why? I watched in hope as this issue was due to be discussed by the Bishops Conference in Maynooth in October, I learned that the Synod in Rome took priority and Archbishop Neary reiterated his statement of non-recognition from 2008. It seemed like the problem of the House of Prayer was not taken seriously when in fact it challenges the belief system of the Catholic Church and the unity of the Catholic  Church in Ireland. The latest response by Fr Fintan Monahan representing Archbishop Neary which is published on the Dialogue Ireland website to calls to engage in dialogue about the House of Prayer is simply disgraceful. It makes a mockery of my pain and the pain of so many other families who have lost loved ones to the House of Prayer scam.
https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/tuam-refuses-to-discuss-the-issues-around-the-house-of-prayer/
After years of writing to Cardinal Brady, Archbishop Neary and you, to bring this problem to your attention, I am completely depressed at the response of the Catholic Church to this scam. I have lost hope that there will be justice for the victims. I cannot understand why the Catholic Church continues to take the position of non-recognition without further action against the House of Prayer and support of Fr. McGinnity’s two roles as priest of the Catholic Church in good standing and Enabler of Christina Gallagher/House of Prayer which has caused so much suffering to so many people.
Please, Archbishop Martin, can you let me know if you are going to change this position of the Catholic Church in Ireland and what action you are going to take?
Yours sincerely and in despair,
Anonymous

Disclaimer: Here we are trying to alert the public to the similar processes that occur to the Daesh commandos in Paris, or the IRA volunteers of 40 years ago or the undue influence exercised over vulnerable adults at a place like the House of Prayer. Also think about what happened in Jonestown when there was a mass killing of hundreds of children, women and men in that order. We are not comparing the groups but the processes going on.

After the Balcombe Street Siege

Here is the Pat Kenny Newstalk interview with the Robert Fisk.

http://www.newstalk.com/listen_back/13240/23097/19th_November_2015_-_The_Pat_Kenny_Show_Part_1/

Start listening after the news.
Robert goes into the Algerian background which has no relevance to the events of last week. Also he realises after a few minutes that we are not dealing with people connected to Algeria. What we are dealing with are young people who have lost their minds to a very clear instance of undue influence. They are from Brussels but are of Moroccan descent. He claims the press have not made the Algerian connection clear, for the obvious reason there is none. The press has been giving the background that these people are not involved due to social deprivation and one of the leaders went to a very expensive school. His analysis is just wrong. He can’t really get a handle on it so he uses the c word and calls it a cult. He has been using the term cult for over a year now. Journalists have been using the c word a lot but have not clarified what they mean by it.

The Daesh Cult

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/10/09/words-matter-isis-war-use-daesh/V85GYEuasEEJgrUun0dMUP/story.html?event=event25%3Fevent%3Devent25

http://www.express.co.uk/pictures/galleries/3488/Paris-attacks-pictures

However, he does not understand what a cult is or does.
The point being missed is the similarity in the processes which go into being involved with the IRA or Daesh. I would say say a more benign group like the House of Prayer in Mayo use exactly the same processes to take over the mind of the mainly elderly. I use exactly this analogy when I speak about cults in schools. The volunteer, O’Brien who went from Gorey and was delivering the bomb that went off on the bus in the Strand is not different in the process going on in Paris. The Balcombe Street gang who shot into restaurants. The Guildford and Birmingham bombers are under the same unique form of undue influence. https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/about/cultism/

Just like we see in Copenhagen, Paris and other locations our IRA guys were doing the same thing 40 years ago. There were differences of course. The IRA volunteer hoped for a long career, 70 virgins on earth and a United Ireland. He also hoped to do what he was doing over and over again. The Islamists as distinct from Muslims who would not consider such a strategy links his action to a theological and ultimate belief that his heroic action will end up in Paradise with 71 virgins. So not only is his military campaign limited to one engagement it also does not distinguish between military and civilian targets. By his nature he gives no warning. The IRA had a spectrum of responses. They distinguished between military and civilian targets. Others gave no warnings. Hyde Park, Lord Mountbatten, Warrenpoint, La Mon, Oxford Street Bus Station. Canary wharf, Osnabruck etc. Some warnings were given and on other days it was no different to the Islamists. When the 7/7 bomber failed in the tube he did his evil business on a bus, the Canary wharf bomber had no intention of blowing himself up in the bus at the Strand. The House of Prayer is of course not going to kill people but when under undue influence the processes are exactly the same. In the case of Daesh we have Islam as the facade, the House of Prayer we have a distorted Catholicism, and in the case of of the IRA it is crypto Catholic Nationalism masked as Republicanism.

Woman lay dead in her home for two months

Ralph Riegel and Saoirse McGarrigle Published 23/11/2015 |

An article by Ruaidhri Giblin in the Mail On Sunday November 22.11.15

https://dialogueireland.wordpress.com/category/christian/palmarian-church/

In 2011 there was a documentary produced on the Palmarians which gives a flavour of the issues concerned. We have for over a decade received reports of parents refusing to see their children unless they subscribed to a particular dress code. Now that very elderly cohort of vulnerable adults have lost all contact with their children and siblings. Some have sold their properties and the family do not know where the cash has gone. Some have moved to Germany and yet others move in with another elderly person. They have lost all contact with the  outside world as this poignant article describes. This isolation is not not the normal process of ageing where a person retreats, but based on the mind control patterns internalised over decades.

A Memoir by Maria Hall – Ex-nun

Title: ‘Reparation’
A spiritual journey into one of the world’s most secretive and controversial religious orders.

Biography
Maria Hall was born into an Irish Catholic family in Auckland, New Zealand. After leaving school she completed a Bachelor of Music at Auckland University and a Diploma of Teaching at Auckland College of Education, before studying Theology and Scripture at Chanel Institute (Auckland) and Yarra Theological College (Melbourne, Australia). Her decision to enter the convent took her around the world. She now lives on Auckland’s North Shore with her partner, Nicholas.
Maria’s memoir ‘REPARATION, a spiritual journey’ is available as an eBook and paperback through Amazon. Her author page on Amazon can be accessed at www.amazon.com/author/maria_hall

Synopsis
As a free-spirited university student, Maria’s life stretched before her like a wonderful adventure. It was New Zealand in the mid-seventies and Maria wanted to make music, serve the Lord and spread her wings far beyond the safe familiarity of her homeland.
Then, the unthinkable happened: a callous act resulting in an impossible choice that shaped the rest of her life. Heartbroken and in need of a miracle, Maria sought absolution as a Carmelite nun in the dark, silent cloisters of the Palmarian Catholic Church, one of the world’s most secretive and controversial religious orders.
This is the true story of one woman’s journey from the sweeping coastlines of New Zealand to the barren plains of Southern Spain, from youthful hope to deep despair, and from sin to reparation.

Reviews
• Dr Magnus Lundberg, Assoc. Prof. Dept. of Theology, Uppsala University, Sweden says, ‘It is very interesting to read how life can turn out with or without our active choices … I was deeply moved by Maria’s memoir.’

• Cate Hogan, Author, and Editor of 500+ books says, ‘I knew little about the Palmarian Catholic Church prior to reading this work, and found the insight into this secret world fascinating. But what kept me engaged was the raw honesty of the writer. The picture she paints of her small, religious family in 1970s New Zealand is both entertaining and intriguing. Some things happened ‘to her’, other choices she made herself—only to be left to deal with lifelong consequences. This is indeed a story of reparation, and I finished it feeling that I had a deeper understanding of the human heart, which is what I look for in a good memoir.’

• Thomas Ryan award winning author of The Field of Blackbirds and The Mark of Halam says, ‘Engrossing, enthralling and always entertaining…this superbly crafted story of Maria Hall’s true life journey is memoir writing at its best!’

Contact Details:
Website: www.mariahallwriter.com
Email: maria.hall@vodafone.co.nz

Postal Address: PO Box 34-332, Birkenhead, Auckland 0746, New Zealand

PDF of article:

Maria’s article in the Herald

5:00 AM Tuesday Nov 10, 2015
As a young Catholic woman growing up in Auckland in the 1960s and 1970s she dreamed of “boys, of love and marriage, and of living on a houseboat”. “Someday there would be a soundproof room in a
sprawling bungalow, where I could play the piano and sing opera at the top of my voice without disturbing neighbours.”
But instead, Maria Hall’s life took a tumultuous journey in her twenties and thirties; first as a nun within the Roman Catholic Church, then as a veiled nun within the cloistered walls of a breakaway catholic sect
in Spain – the Palmarian Catholic Church. Rather than love she found isolation, instead of marriage she gave a vow of chastity and poverty, in place of a sprawling bungalow and nice piano came a threadbare room and rickety wooden slat bed. Almost three decades on Ms Hall, who’s now in her sixties, has finally found love,  with Nicholas Abbott, “a man of science” who she met when he came to her home to
fix her computer. A slow romance kindled and today the couple live happily together in their North Shore home overlooking the harbour. In closing the darker chapter of her earlier life she’s also written a book; Reparation: A Spiritual Journey.
It begins with her decision, at 20, to “devote her life to God,” when one Sunday morning, during confession, her local parish priest asked if she’d ever thought of becoming a nun. As the youngest daughter in a family of eight, born to a mother who had “breathed God’s love into every cell of my being from the moment of my conception” a religious vocation appealed. “I thought about the idea of dedicating my life to God as a nun. Somehow, the sacrifice, the commitment and the practice of Christian virtue seemed worthwhile.”

From these years of faithful devotion, a picture emerges, of a young woman searching for a purpose, for a place in a religious institution going through its own turmoil of a controversial liberal shift, combined with an increased number leaving the faith. Ms Hall’s first years as a novice in the Roman Catholic order of the Sacred Heart
were marked by a sense of loneliness, with few peers her age and elders who gave little away in terms of advice or comradeship.
“As a teenager I had been so vivacious, the liveliest girl in the parish, but I had changed. Living with nuns had turned my focus inwards, making me introverted.” Then came a dark point in her life, when a man she befriended took advantage of her and left pregnant with a baby boy she gave up for adoption. Vulnerable, she turned to her religious elders for support only to be dismissed and told her vocation was no longer. “You do not have a vocation…If you did, this never
would have happened to you,” said a senior priest.
Left floundering, as a mother without a child, a woman of faith without a calling, the promise of a new life as a Palmarian nun beckoned warmly – only for her to once again be left in the cold once enclosed in the convent walls. Established in the 1970s, after four young girls claimed to have seen a holy apparition on farmland near the village of Palmar de Troya, the Palmarian church has distanced itself from Rome; it’s created its own rites, liturgies and its own bible.
Ms Hall’s life within it was dominated by religious rituals, sleepless nights, punitive regimes and temperamental superiors. The daily routine was controlled by tolling bells, endlessly gruelling domestic tasks all done in the compulsory silence enforced outside of prayer or song. She slept in a tiny room, with a threadbare blanket on a wooden bed, wore ill-fitting hand-me down clothes and shoes and was cut off from friends, family and the rest of the outside world, with no television, radio, newspaper or telephone.
When her father and sister did one day make the trip across the world to visit her, she was only allowed to see them only twice in her ten minute breaks. “Many years later she [my sister] told me that she felt like I had died.” Eventually this thankless commitment eroded what was left of her once unfaltering faith. She left and was cast out of the convent with nothing but a plane ticket home, some money and a shoulder bag containing her bible, writing pad and passport.
At home, in New Zealand, Ms Hall had to “relearn” what it meant to be human. She recalled standing in a bar, holding a glass of wine at a loss of how to act. “I’d been a Carmelite nun, which means solitude, silence, a very hard-working regime and no conversation ever. So you are just locked in your own thoughts.” She likened this belief in her former life to the fundamentalism behind violent extremist groups such as ISIS. “I so understand terrorists, because I used to be fanatical in another way. I never picked up a gun – but I was trying to create peace in the world through prayer. I believed in prayer like these people believed in terrorism.” Over time she’s learnt what it means to be human, returned to work for some years as a music teacher before retiring and has even made contact with the son, she gave up so many years ago.
She no longer has faith “in a God above”, but says she puts her faith in the people around her. “At night time, whenever I woke up…until the last few years, I always talked to God. Now I don’t…because I don’t need to talk to him, it doesn’t really matter if he exists or not. Now I talk to myself.”
Now she relies on her own strength, takes comfort from those around her and pleasure from the natural surrounds of her North Shore home, where she lives with her partner.
The Palmarian Church
• Considered to be a cult
• Started in the 1970s after four girls claimed to have seen a holy apparition on farmland near the village of Palmar de Troya
• It has created its own rites, liturgies and bible
• To learn more on Ms Hall’s story go to www.mariahallwriter.com
By Corazon Miller
– NZ Herald