SAINT MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH
Registered No. 37 Deanery No. 32 Pop 300/4500 (1826:1921)
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Architect:
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T. Brine |
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Address:
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24 Bowling Green Road,
Castletown,
Isle of Man IM9 1EB
Tel: 01624 82 22 72 |
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Priest:
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Rev. Gerald Hurst, |
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Masses:
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Sunday 1st M Prev. 6.30 pm; 9 pm
Holydays 7.30 pm
Weekdays Mon, Wed, Fri 10 am
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Services:
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Confs Sat 6-6.30 pm.
Bapt by appointment
Nov. & Ben. Wed 7.30 pm |
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General:
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SVP. Religious Instruction:
Seniors; Wed 4 -5 pm; Juniors - as announced
Beechview Nursing Home
Abbotswood Nursing Home (Ballasalla) |
 In
1653, the process of dissolving the Cistercian Abbey at Rushen in
Ballasalla began and the Catholic Faith in the Island died. For
the following three hundred years, fitful attempts to revive that
faith continued.
It was not until the year 1826 or thereabouts that the first post-reformation
Catholic Church was built on the Island by an Irish Jesuit named
Father Matthew Gahan. On the outskirts of Castletown on land costing
£16 this present church was erected at a total cost of £650. During
the building the west gable was blown down. In 1889 a new roof was
needed due to storm damage.
 Later
on, nearly one hundred years, in 1979 a replacement had to be made
and the third roof was put on. Since then the church has been re-decorated
and re-ordered and very recently, due to burglary, further repairs
were necessary. During these years the little church has been served
by some nineteen priests visiting from Douglas until in 1924 it
became a Parish Church and the first Parish Priest was Father Michael
Walsh who belonged to the Liverpool Archdiocese.
Up until 1850 the authorities had been in Dublin. Since 1924 there
have been some twelve Parish Priests including the Rev G Hurst,
the present incumbent. For reasons not very clear this small church
on the outskirts of the Archdiocese was closed down completely for
eighteen years between 1895 and 1913.
 Growth
in the congregation has ensured its place in the town of Castletown
and the most recent refurbishment in 1994 has made it into a little
country gem one of which the older and more faithful parishioners
are very proud.
Dedicated to St Mary, after the title of the Rushen Abbey of St
Mary, the windows depicting the Annunciation and the Resurrection,
the work of the Clarke Brothers of Dublin, are part of its beautiful
features. The greatest tribute that this church pays to its Catholic
forebears is that it still stands proudly as the first Post-Reformation
Catholic Church on the Isle of Man
THE PARISH includes PORT ERIN & PORT ST MARY plus the other surrounding
villages of Ballasalla, Ballabeg, Arbory, Cregneish, Colby, and
Santon. There are no Catholic Schools in the district. But there
are some seven schools which provide a very good education.
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