St. Joseph's Church
Madden County Armagh

Our Catholic community has been keeping alive the traditions of faith, prayer and service of God and neighbour for over 1400 years. Our parish can trace it’s history back to the church founded by St Mochua in Derrynoose around 630 AD. The ruins of that first church can still be seen today near the Holy Well that bears St Mochua’s name.

For over a hundred years countless Christians and visitors of every faith and none have crossed the threshold of this holy place, sensing the presence of God and filling it with prayer and contemplation.

Our three vibrant parish churches are now the houses of God where all are welcome and where the parish community is always being built up and renewed. They are living houses of prayer where people can encounter Christ through his sacraments and spend time his Real Presence, finding peace for the soul.

St Patrick’s Church, Keady, is one of the largest churches in the Archdiocese of Armagh in regard to seating capacity. Built in 1860, it was extended and extensively renovated in 1989. St Mochua’s Church, Derrynoose, was built in 1859 and reordered in 2003 with the installation of the altar, tabernacle and ambo which had previously been in St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh. St Joseph’s Church, Madden, is our newest building, erected in 1998. Fresh and modern in appearance, it also has a beautiful and serene atmosphere one associates with places of timeless prayer.

The parish is also blessed with St Patrick’s Hall which provides many services to the local community, with a strong team of parish employees and volunteers who ensure the parish fulfils its mission of offering worship to God and caring service to others, and with our secondary and primary schools as well as many other official church organisations.