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The History of the Mass Rock
By Sarah Mc Caffrey
Attending Mass at the Killoughcarron Mass Rock was an unforgettable spiritual experience.
Dominic and Colm McFadden deserve credit for cutting the bushes and undergrowth and clearing
the pathways to make access easy for the People of God to come and worship on that memorable,
June evening in 1993.
St. Columcille used to speak about the rustle of angels’ wings in the oak trees in his beloved
Derry, and I have no doubt that the trees on the lake shore and on the slopes up to and surrounding
the Mass Rock itself were hosts to choirs of angels that evening in
this ideal, peaceful setting with the heather-clad Croagh Hill in the back-ground sloping down to Carrick lake with its placid waters
lapping the shore and carrying the little boat with its precious cargo of young priests about to celebrate
Mass in the hallowed spot where Father Garvey had ministered to our ancestors in by gone days.
A balmy breeze drove off the midges which were threatening to disturb the peace, and this reminded me of the
Rosary and Prayer Service we, the members of the Legion of Mary, had at the Mass Rock in Ards Wood near old
Doe Chapel away back in the 1960’s, when midges nearly drove us crazy, but they helped us to appreciate the
hardships endured by our ancestors when they attended Mass in the open when rain, wind, snow and inclement
weather conditions added to their discomfort but steeled and strengthened their spirit and helped them to hand
on the Faith to us.
 Doe
Chapel
Before
Doe Chapel was built the faithful attended Mass at the Mass Rocks scattered throughout this area from
Creenera to Kildarragh to Derryreel. These Masses were usually celebrated in quiet, secluded places by hunted
priests and friars, a few of whose names have been handed down to us in folk memory.
Father Dominic Curden, also known as Friar Curneen, used to stay frequently in Conal Kelly’s house in Milltown,
Massinass. Friar Curneen said Mass regularly at the Turas in Massinass. He died in 1809 and he is buried
in the graveyard at Doe Castle. In Father Curden’s early years, another Friar, Father Anthony Garvey, used
to celebrate Mass at the Killoughcarron Mass Rock, and he resided in the area much to the delight of the people.
When Father Garvey died in May, 1784, a controversy arose as to the proper place for his burial.
The deceased priest had expressed a strong wish that his bones should be laid to rest among those of
his fellow-friars and clerical relatives at Kilmacrennan. The diocesan custom prescribed that his
remains should be interred in the parish in which he had ministered, that is Meevagh. On the other
hand, the local people, wishing to visit his grave, desired to keep his remains in Doe. However,
Fr. Garvey was granted his dying wish and he was buried in Kilmacrennan. Fr. Aeneas Mc Bride, a native
of Dunlewey, was one of the last of the hunted priests and he was buried in Clondahorkey.
In 1781 Father Dominic Coll said the last Penal Mass at Carraig an Aifrinn, in Carnamaddy, on Tarlach Ban’s hill.
The whole parish was present at this Mass and they were attacked by the Red Coats. A scuffle ensued and a
sentry unhorsed the yeoman Captain with a pike. This sentry was arrested and appeared before the Magistrate.
To prevent further trouble the Ards landlord, Mr. William Wray, negotiated with Friar Curneen, and gave half
an acre plot for a chapel outside the demesne and he also gave five cartloads of wattles for fencing around the
chapel. Mr. Wray made this concession and executed the deed for the chapel site before the sale of
the Ards estate in 1784. Father Curden, poor himself and unwilling to place too heavy a burden on the shoulders of his
poor congregation, begged his cousin Fr. Bernard Rodden, a native of Whitehill, Lossett, near Churchill, then
P.P. of Killybegs, to seek a transfer to Doe. Friar Curneen was friendly with the Bishop and the transfer
took place. The inscription on the mural flag on the side wall of Doe Church reads:
“This chapel was erected in 1784 by the Rev. Bernard Rodden.”
In those years immense shoals of valuable fish afforded lucrative employment to the fishermen and carters along
the Donegal coast. Killybegs fishermen made a collection and gave a generous donation of £30 to their popular
pastor. These donations were given for his personal use but the generous and self-sacrificing Fr. Rodden gave
it all for the erection of the Church, so we have no hesitation in giving full credence to the popular story that
he build Doe Church “out of his own pocket”, with the assistance of voluntary labour. The original Church was
thatched and it was rebuilt by Rev. Peter Gallagher after a fire, in 1830. The galleries were added later and
the seats came from the old Letterkenny Church which was used before the Cathedral was built, so for many years
our ancestors had to stand or kneel on the floor at Mass. Michael Davitt addressed a Land League meeting at Doe.
So did Fr. McFadden, from Claggan, Carrigart; the famous P.P. of Gweedore, and, as a result of his speech was
arrested.
Doe Chapel served the people of the whole parish, though the people of the Dunfanaghy area attended Mass at the ruins
of the old monastic site at Clondahorkey as long as Sunday Mass continued to be celebrated there. Later, the aged
and infirm were admitted to Sunday worship in the Union Chapel in the Dunfanaghy Workhouse. At long last their prayers
were heard and a new Church of the Holy Cross was solemnly blessed by Bishop O’ Donnell and opened for public worship in June 1898.
The last Mass in old Doe Chapel was said on the morning of 15th. August, 1971, and the first Mass in the new Church
of St. Michael the Archangel in Creeslough was celebrated with great ceremony that evening in the presence of
Bishop Mc Feely, many priests and a large congregation. Father Deeney R.I.P. was our hard working, zealous
curate when the transition took place from old Doe to the new Church in Creeslough and he was spared to us for
a further twelve years. Fr. Doherty was the P.P. later to be replaced by
Fr. Bradley. Fr. Deeney was replaced by Fr. Colton, then Fr. Conaghan and now Fr. Crossan.
The
New Church in Creeslough
One could not but remember Fr. Barney Gallagher R.I.P. from this area, who served God faithfully in Aranmore Island,
Tory Island, Glenvar and Gortahork, and his Trojan work collecting for the Church of Christ the King.
Poor Fr. Johnny Reilly R.I.P. looking forward to returning to the diocese from his mission in London,
was appointed to the staff of St. Eunan’s College, Letterkenny, but sadly died in London in June, 1954,
just before his return. Happily we have still with us the scholarly Fr. Silke, historian of note and
Archivist for the Diocese. Fr. Eugene Mc Gee is ministering Glasgow, and our most recently ordained is,
Fr. Patrick Mc Garvey.
Frequent visitors to the area was the recently deceased Fr. Charles Gillespie who died in his beloved Bangladesh
with the people he had served so faithfully. He was the son of the late Julia Rodden Meenbunone and Gillespie, Umerafad.
Monsignor John and Fr. Francis Gillespie come regularly from Philadelphia to their roots in Terlin and to visit
their numerous relatives. They are the sons of the late Patrick Gillespie and Margaret Cannon, Terlin.
Thank God, too, for the Capuchin Community in Ards Friary, who, since the early 1930’s, have resided
in Ards where once Mr. William Wray and later the Stewart landlord families held sway. The Capuchins
have been a leaven in our community and have brought countless blessings to the whole diocese.
All these thoughts crowded my mind that June day in Killoughcarron and they are now recollected in
tranquillity, about all these holy places in our area and the saintly priests and heroic people who
persevered in their practice of the Faith, their loyalty to the Mass and devotion to the Mother of God.
Now a word of thanks and appreciation to the Mc Fadden family for their generosity and
hospitality shown to all of us that evening and for their continued care and reverence for the Mass Rock. It was
pleasant to renew acquaintances, to meet and have a chat with them all, Mary and her husband and
Fr. Pat Brady, Sr. Joan, home from the mission fields of South Africa, Nora, Sarah, Dominic, Margaret, Colm
and Marjorie and their family, Catherine and Dan Sheridan and their family. We missed the generous hearted
Anton, gone to meet his God and to be reunited with his parents in Paradise. We missed Jimmy, Paddy, Gerald
and Anne. They all made us feel so welcome and the blessing of the young priests was much appreciated.
Thinking of our ancestors for whom the Faith was their most precious possession, I asked myself: Those of us privileged to be present at the Mass - is the Faith safe in our Hands?
Are we going to pass it on to the next generation? I think that the Faith is in safe hands,
because also present at the Mass were the core members of an active prayer group, who, together
with some others, recite the Fifteen Decades of the Rosary daily, on Sundays in the Church of
St. Michael and on week days in their homes. The Rosary Group, under the protection our Our Lady and in
response to Her request, pray for peace and for guidance for the people of Ireland.
Written by: Sarah Mc Caffrey, at Creeslough on the 20th. July, 1996.
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