Prayer group urges Franciscans to enter into talks as sit-in at Clonmel church ends

The sit-in protest at Clonmel's former Friary church has ended after the Abbey House of Prayer Group gave a voluntary undertaking in the High Court yesterday (Thursday, January 23) to vacate the building.

The 23-day protest by members of the prayer group and other volunteers over the Franciscan Order's decision to close the church on New Year's Eve, ended yesterday evening just hours after the High Court hearing.

The High Court proceedings were instigated last week by SF Trust CLG, the legal owner of the church on behalf of the Franciscan Order.

Pat O'Gorman of the Abbey House of Prayer Steering Group, said they gave a voluntary undertaking to end the sit-in by midnight yesterday after the judge informed them they faced being served with an injunction compelling them to vacate the church if they didn't.

He said the group and other supporters of the church remaining open as a place of worship were adamant their campaign should continue. He hoped the Franciscan Order would talk with the group now the sit-in was over but acknowledged there was no guarantee that would happen.

He said the group's members will meet early next week to discuss their next step, which they last week indicated would include continuing their protest outside the church on Abbey Street.

“I think it's pretty sad and unfortunate that the Franciscans felt they had to go to the High Court to get us out. The sit-in was a last resort when they were not communicating with us," he told The Nationalist.  

Mr O'Gorman said the Abbey House of Prayer Group wants to enter into talks with the Franciscans to resolve the dispute. “We are willing and ready to talk,” he said.

The Abbey House of Prayer Group had kept the former Friary church open as the Abbey House of Prayer for the 18 months up to December 31. The church was open for daily prayers and Mass was celebrated there twice weekly.

The group had been allowed to keep the church open under a temporary caretakers agreement with the Franciscan Order, which departed Clonmel in January 2023 after over 750 years presence in the town.

There was shock and sadness in Clonmel on December 20 when the Franciscan Order issued a statement announcing that it had decided it was no longer possible to keep the church open and with “regret and sadness” would permanently close the church from December 31.

The statement added that the Franciscan Order had not yet decided on the church's future.