Mass & Service Times
Sunday
- 09:00
- 11:00
Saturday
- 19:00 Vigil
Weekdays
- 10:00
About St Mary of the Visitation Church, Killybegs
St Mary of the Visitation Church, Killybegs was built between 1840 and 1845. It has a cruciform plan with a six-bay nave and rendered walls under a pitched artificial slate roof. Notable features include a four-stage tower, stained-glass windows, a marble altar and crenellated parapets. It was designed by John Buonarotti Papworth.
Architectural details from the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, © Government of Ireland, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Summarised by Christianity.ie.
History
The parish records that Killybegs, Na Cealla Beaga, meaning the Little Cells or the little churches, has probably existed since medieval times, in common with many other parishes in the ancient See of Raphoe. According to the parish's own history, the origin and position of the little churches from which the parish takes its name are nowhere explained in ecclesiastical history or in the biographies of the saints, and tradition presents the village as dedicated to St Catherine as its patron when the cells were first erected. The parish cites E Maguire's A History of the Diocese of Raphoe, published in 1920.
The church underwent major restoration work between May 2011 and October 2012.
Clergy
- Parish Priest Very Rev Colm O'Gallchoir
