Hundreds attended 'wonderful tradition' of the Holy Year Cross Mass above Clonmel

Larry and Ailish O’Keeffe at the Holy Year Cross Mass on Bank Holiday Monday. Picture John D Kelly

“The auld hill gets higher every year,” quipped a fellow walker as we made the last determined spurt to the summit to join the hundreds gathered around Clonmel’s Holy Year Cross for the celebration of the annual Bank Holiday Monday morning Mass.

The 45-minute trek from the Old Bridge to the top of Scrouthea Hill had been steep and tough along a winding road with the final section along mountain track. But the just reward for our physical efforts was the magnificent panoramic view of the town beneath us when we reached our destination.

Clonmel and the vast patchwork of green and golden fields in the surrounding valley stretched before us in all their glory with Slievenamon looming large to the right.

It was a very clear day and as we waited for the Mass to begin, we picked out landmarks in the town – the vast facade of Tipperary University Hospital, the walking and running tracks of the recently opened Sports Hub on the by-pass, the award nominated council estate at Glenconnor and the local industries on the outskirts - Abbott, Boston Scientific, Bulmers and Medite with its trademark white smoke billowing from its chimneys.

Weather conditions were dry and warm, perfect for the 73rd communal hike to the Holy Year Cross made by people of all ages from the town and surrounding communities. Many brought along their dogs for the hike.

The altar area, wall surrounding the Holy Year Cross and plinths where the statues of Jesus and Mary are mounted were in pristine condition for the Mass.

Before the ceremony began, Patsy Lambe of the Friends of Holy Year Cross paid tribute to the team of volunteers who came up to the hill top last Thursday evening to give a fresh coat of white and blue paint to the structures in between rain showers.

He also thanked Waterford County Council for rebuilding a section of the main track to the summit, which had been severely damaged due to the erosive force of rainwater gushing down it.

He paid tribute to TD Mattie McGrath for contacting the council about the track’s poor condition and thanked Gabriel Hynes of Waterford County Council and Carol Creighton of Clonmel Borough District for their help and support with the project.

Mr Lambe also had a special word of thanks for Maudie Cremmins from Glenagad, Old Bridge, who prepares the altar flowers and cloths for the Mass and, for as long has he can remember, has provided a slap-up breakfast every year in her home to the Friends of Holy Year Cross volunteers before the Mass.

“This is Maudie’s last year making breakfast for us and we wish to thank her for her support,” he said.
Mass celebrant Fr John Treacy, PP of SS Peter & Paul’s Parish, said the Mass was a “wonderful tradition” and he began the ceremony by remembering the past generations who climbed the hill to take part in it every year.

“We remember all the parents and grandparents who perhaps brought you as children and you are now bringing your own children. It’s a great tradition and a very unique celebration we have here in our town of Clonmel,” he told the large congregation gathered around him.

For the Gospel, Fr Treacy aptly chose the Beatitudes, which Jesus first recited during his famous Sermon on the Mount. In the homily, he spoke of the very special place mountains had in the Bible. There was something “very breathtaking and inspiring about mountains” and it was very often “out of the way” places like these where Jesus and God can be encountered.

Leading the congregation were the Mayor of Clonmel Cllr Richie Molloy and other Clonmel Borough District councillors, who dressed in their ceremonial robes for the Mass.

Cllr Molloy recited a reading from the Book of Isaiah during the Mass.

Afterwards he told The Nationalist he has been attending the ceremony since he was a child and is delighted the tradition is still going strong 73 years on.

“I have fond memories of my own mother coming up here when I was a child and my father was one of the people who brought up the statues for the Mass.

“This is very personal for me every year and it's an honour to be here as Mayor.

“It’s lovely to see the tradition being carried on and I wish to thank Patsy Lambe and the Friends of Holy Year Cross for all the work they did to get the altar and other Mass structures ready for the ceremony,” he added.

Accompanying Cllr Molloy on the pilgrimage to the Holy Year Cross Mass was his cousin Frank Noonan and 83-year-old uncle Michael Dempsey, who lives in north London and attends the Mass every year during his annual trip home to visit family in Clonmel.

Frank, a native of Irishtown, Clonmel, who now lives at New chapel, Clerihan, said his mother’s side of the family come from Glenagad at the foot of Scrouthea Hill and it’s a great family tradition to attend the Mass every year.

Michael Dempsey, who grew up in Glenagad, said he has been attending the Mass since he was around 15-years-old.

He was delighted to meet old friends and acquaintances at the annual gathering though he noted that a lot of the old faces he used to see at the ceremony are now gone.

He has great memories of the work carried out by the community to develop the Holy Year Cross back in the early 1950s.

“I remember when they put up the original wooden cross and they cleared all the paths of big stones when I was a child.

“I remember when the men had their hard work done for the day at 9pm they would light a big bonfire here on the hilltop and they all had big bottles of cider.” Their efforts have certainly left a lasting positive legacy for the town and its people.

Check out the two page spread of photos that accompany this article in this week's edition of The Nationalist now on sale in local shops. 

Pictured below: Tom Poyntz with his granddaughter Hannah Fagen on the way to the Holy Year Cross. Picture John D Kelly