There was one other Temperance Movement that deserves a mention, and that is the so-called ‘poitín missions’ that were carried out by the Redemptorists Fathers. These anti-poitin missions, found part of Co Galway in the 1930s to be "debauched by poitin". Poitin making was denounced from the altar as a reserved sin requiring forgiveness from a bishop. The Redemptorists were known as hard hitting preachers and regularly preached about the evils of alcohol from the pulpit. They denounced the growing popularity of the ‘Ballroom’s of Romance’ as an occasion to sin, and prayed publicly for the conversion of everyone attending these dances36. Two priests in particular, Fr. Stíophán Conneely and Fr. J Gorey, began these ‘poitín missions’ in Connemara and West Mayo. They instilled the ‘Fear of God’ into parishioners by comparing poitín making to trampling on the crucifix, and refused to begin their missions until poitín making equipment was brought to an area on the edge of the parish and burned. Though the missions didn’t manage to eliminate the poitín trade altogether, they did succeed in closing many sheebeens, and virtually made the tradition extinct.
The reason these missions deserve a mention is that during my research, information was provided about passing a poitín run back through the still for a third time, and run or batch what was known as the ‘Priests run’ (since they had a more delicate palate). When asked about a special run of poitín for a priest in both Mayo and Connemara, I was told they NEVER brewed specially for the clergy. This reaction is due to the strict Redemptorists Missions in Connemara and Mayo.
Parish missions were a universal feature of Irish Catholic church life until the mid-1960s. The mission usually lasted for two or sometimes three weeks. The daily rhythm of the mission consisted of early morning Mass with a short practical instruction, the principal mission service in the evening with a full sermon lasting about three-quarters of an hour, visitation of homes and the opportunity for a more earnest mission confession. Missions emerged from the seventeenth-century Catholic renewal in France and Italy. As Catholic church life in Ireland conformed more to the European model following Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the first missions, given principally by Jesuits and Vincentians, were something of a novelty. As Cardinal Cullen’s ‘devotional revolution’ gathered momentum, the mission became a more regular feature of parish life.
The Civil War left a legacy of local bitterness especially in small towns and rural communities. In their different ways, the GAA and the parish missions acted as forces for reconciliation. The first channelled the energies of political opponents into more socially-acceptable rivalries. Missions helped to overcome division which had been backed by church sanctions.
In a pastoral letter of October 1922, the Irish bishops refused the sacraments to members of the anti-Treaty forces, or ‘Irregulars’. This prohibition was enforced with varying degrees of strictness depending on the sympathies of clergy. Since the missioners were outsiders, they were regarded as being above the local rivalries and relatively neutral in political matters, and their message was spiritual rather than political.
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The reason these missions deserve a mention is that during my research, information was provided about passing a poitín run back through the still for a third time, and run or batch what was known as the ‘Priests run’ (since they had a more delicate palate). When asked about a special run of poitín for a priest in both Mayo and Connemara, I was told they NEVER brewed specially for the clergy. This reaction is due to the strict Redemptorists Missions in Connemara and Mayo.
Parish missions were a universal feature of Irish Catholic church life until the mid-1960s. The mission usually lasted for two or sometimes three weeks. The daily rhythm of the mission consisted of early morning Mass with a short practical instruction, the principal mission service in the evening with a full sermon lasting about three-quarters of an hour, visitation of homes and the opportunity for a more earnest mission confession. Missions emerged from the seventeenth-century Catholic renewal in France and Italy. As Catholic church life in Ireland conformed more to the European model following Catholic Emancipation in 1829, the first missions, given principally by Jesuits and Vincentians, were something of a novelty. As Cardinal Cullen’s ‘devotional revolution’ gathered momentum, the mission became a more regular feature of parish life.
The Civil War left a legacy of local bitterness especially in small towns and rural communities. In their different ways, the GAA and the parish missions acted as forces for reconciliation. The first channelled the energies of political opponents into more socially-acceptable rivalries. Missions helped to overcome division which had been backed by church sanctions.
In a pastoral letter of October 1922, the Irish bishops refused the sacraments to members of the anti-Treaty forces, or ‘Irregulars’. This prohibition was enforced with varying degrees of strictness depending on the sympathies of clergy. Since the missioners were outsiders, they were regarded as being above the local rivalries and relatively neutral in political matters, and their message was spiritual rather than political.
Click here to continue to Fr. Cullen