The changing models of monastic evangelisation in the Irish Church

Holycross Abbey presents a special evening with Monsignor Ciarán O'Carroll, Parish Priest of Booterstown, Donnybrook and Milltown in Dublin. A former Rector of the Irish College in Rome, he has completed a Doctorate in Church History. He will speak about the changing models of monastic evangelisation in the Irish Church from the time of St. Patrick to the dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII.

The talk will trace the development and decline of the original model of the Church in Ireland and the emergence of the new model of which Holycross is such an important testament. Each of the monastic models strove to present and live the message of the Gospel as Church, in a manner that responded to the call of the Lord: ‘Go make disciples of all the nations’. The earliest monastic model, attributed to the era of St. Patrick, emphasised the importance of individual Irish holy men and women such as St. Patrick himself, St. Brigid and St. Columcille.

Holycross has a very special place in the emergence of the second monastic model. This talk will provide an opportunity to visit this beautifully and carefully restored 12th-century Abbey in which one can encounter a blend of spirituality, history, art, and folklore.