seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Tag Archives: Assumption of Mary


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The Consecration of Galway Cathedral

The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St. Nicholas, commonly known as Galway Cathedral, in Galway, County Galway, is consecrated by Cardinal Richard Cushing, Archbishop of Boston and Papal Legate for the Holy See, on August 15, 1965. The date is significant as it falls on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, to whom the cathedral is dedicated alongside Saint Nicholas, patron saint of sailors and merchants.

The consecration is a major ecclesiastical event attended by President Éamon de Valera, who lights the sanctuary candle, and by Cardinal William Conway, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, who celebrates Mass. Bishop Michael Browne, Bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh, is accompanied at the altar by four archbishops, underscoring the cathedral’s importance as the mother church of the Diocese of Galway and Kilmacduagh. Thousands of people gather for the blessing, which begins with a procession from the Convent of Mercy to the cathedral’s front entrance.

Galway Cathedral is built on the site of the old city prison, with construction starting in 1958 and completion in 1965. Designed by architect John J. Robinson, it is a striking example of Renaissance Revival architecture, with influences from Romanesque and Gothic styles. Constructed almost entirely of local limestone, it features an octagonal dome 44.2 metres (145 ft.) high, supported by eight pillars each adorned with a mosaic of one of the Beatitudes.

The consecration marks the opening of the cathedral as the last great stone cathedral to be built in Europe. The dedication to Our Lady Assumed into Heaven reflects both Marian devotion and the city’s maritime heritage, while the building itself stands as a testament to Galway’s cultural and religious identity.

In summary, August 15, 1965, is a historic day for Galway, when Cardinal Richard Cushing’s consecration of the new cathedral brings together national and international religious figures, Irish political leadership, and the faithful in a celebration of faith, heritage, and architecture.


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Birth of Father Michael Joseph McGivney

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Michael Joseph McGivney, American Catholic priest, is born to Irish immigrants Patrick and Mary (Lynch) McGivney on August 12, 1852, in Waterbury, Connecticut. He founds the Knights of Columbus at a local parish to serve as a mutual aid and fraternal insurance organization, particularly for immigrants and their families. It develops through the 20th century as the world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization.

McGivney attends the local Waterbury district school but leaves at 13 to work in the spoon-making department of one of the area brass mills. In 1868, at the age of 16, he enters the Séminaire de Saint-Hyacinthe in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, Canada. He continues his studies at Our Lady of Angels Seminary, near Niagara Falls, New York (1871–1872) and at the Jesuits‘ St. Mary’s College, in Montreal, Quebec. He has to leave the seminary, returning home, to help finish raising his siblings after the death of his father in June 1873. He later resumes his studies at St. Mary’s Seminary, in Baltimore, Maryland. He is ordained a priest on December 22, 1877, by Archbishop James Gibbons at the Baltimore Cathedral of the Assumption.

From his own experience, McGivney recognizes the devastating effect on immigrant families of the untimely death of the father and wage earner. Many Catholics are still struggling to assimilate into the American economy. On March 29, 1882, while an assistant pastor at Saint Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, he founds the Knights of Columbus, with a small group of parishioners, as a mutual aid society to provide financial assistance in the event of the men’s death to their widows and orphans. The organization develops as a fraternal society. He is also known for his tireless work among his parishioners.

Father Michael Joseph McGivney dies from pneumonia at the age of 38 on August 14, 1890, the eve of the Assumption, in Thomaston, Connecticut.

The Knights of Columbus is among the first groups to recruit blood donors, with formal efforts dating to 1937 during the Great Depression. As of 2013, the order has more than 1.8-million-member families and 15,000 councils. During the 2012 fraternal year, $167 million and 70 million man-hours are donated to charity by the order.

In 1996, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford opens the cause for canonization, an investigation into McGivney’s life with a view towards formal recognition by the Church of his sainthood. Father Gabriel O’Donnell, OP, is the postulator of McGivney’s cause. He is also the director of the Fr. McGivney Guild, which now has 150,000 members supporting his cause.

The diocesan investigation is closed in 2000, and the case is passed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Vatican City. On March 15, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI approves a decree recognizing McGivney’s heroic virtue, thus declaring him “Venerable.” As of August 6, 2013, a miracle attributed to McGivney’s intercession is under investigation at the Vatican.