Mass & Service Times
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About St Colman’s, Clara
St Colman’s, Clara is a Roman Catholic parish church in Clara, Co. Kilkenny. It is part of the Ossory Diocese.
History
The celebration of Mass in Clara parish is traced back to penal times, before the middle of the eighteenth century, when Mass is recorded as having been said on land at Rathgarvan. No chapel is recorded there, and the parish presumes the site was an open-air Mass-station.
Soon after 1732 a chapel was built in the pit beside the Dublin road, at the entrance gate of the avenue leading down to the present church, and was known from its situation as the Chapel of Pitt. The site occupied by the present church was chosen next, and a further church was built on that site about the end of the eighteenth century. The present church was erected on the site of its two immediate predecessors in 1870.
Notable features
The cemetery adjoining the church dates from 1910, and the first known burial there was that of Ned Holohan of Clashwilliam, around 1921 or 1922.
A well in a field on O'Keeffe's farm, about 50 yards from the road and just opposite the place called "The Monument", was formerly known as St Colman's Well and was visited by people seeking cures. A pattern was held there each year on the feast of St Colman.
Clergy
- Parish Priest Very Rev. Patrick Carey
