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St. Comgalls Church
Antrim
County Antrim
BT41 4HP
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Who we are
Welcome to Parish of Antrim, in the town of Antrim.
Recently, the Parish of Antrim was formed as a result of the amalgamation of St Comgall’s and St Joseph’s parishes. For the younger parishioners, a new thing but for the more senior a return to the old, as this had been one parish from 1873 up until 1985. Together, we must build and pray with one another on our journey as a parish community ensuring that everyone is welcomed and respected.
In the parish there is a great awareness of the faith that has been passed from one generation to the next. It is a faith that supports people in their times of struggle and always gives hope but should never be inward looking. Therefore, we welcome the support and prayers of our neighbours from the other Christian traditions and we want to build good and meaningful relationships together and to play our part in the civic life of this town.
Our parish mission statement from the prophet Micah – to act justly, to love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God, encourages us to find the right answer in our journey through life by being faithful to God in all that we do. Together with our adopted parish icon, the “icon of friendship”, they are a reminder that we do not journey alone but are accompanied by Christ and one another.
Since 1873, many things have changed and there are different challenges for different generations but ultimately for each person, it is always about trying to do the right thing and for the one who believes in Christ, having the courage to trust and believe in the Gospel.
On behalf of the parish team, I welcome your support and interest and pray that the blessing of God is with you.
Sean Emerson
Parish Priest
Recently, the Parish of Antrim was formed as a result of the amalgamation of St Comgall’s and St Joseph’s parishes. For the younger parishioners, a new thing but for the more senior a return to the old, as this had been one parish from 1873 up until 1985. Together, we must build and pray with one another on our journey as a parish community ensuring that everyone is welcomed and respected.
In the parish there is a great awareness of the faith that has been passed from one generation to the next. It is a faith that supports people in their times of struggle and always gives hope but should never be inward looking. Therefore, we welcome the support and prayers of our neighbours from the other Christian traditions and we want to build good and meaningful relationships together and to play our part in the civic life of this town.
Our parish mission statement from the prophet Micah – to act justly, to love tenderly, and walk humbly with your God, encourages us to find the right answer in our journey through life by being faithful to God in all that we do. Together with our adopted parish icon, the “icon of friendship”, they are a reminder that we do not journey alone but are accompanied by Christ and one another.
Since 1873, many things have changed and there are different challenges for different generations but ultimately for each person, it is always about trying to do the right thing and for the one who believes in Christ, having the courage to trust and believe in the Gospel.
On behalf of the parish team, I welcome your support and interest and pray that the blessing of God is with you.
Sean Emerson
Parish Priest
Location of worship / Church Address
Castle Street
Antrim,
County Antrim
BT41 4HP
United Kingdom
Phone: 028 9442 8016
Fax: 028 9448 8435
Download St. Comgalls Church vCard with Mass Times
Church Pastor
Very Rev Sean Emerson PP
Parish Priest
Parochial House
3 Oriel Road
Antrim,
County Antrim
BT41 4HP
3 Oriel Road
United Kingdom
Phone: 028 9442 8016
Download Parish Priest Very Rev Sean Emerson PP vCard with Bio
Quote of the Day
Acts 18:9
Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
Denomination
Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic churches in Antrim, County Antrim, United Kingdom
Roman Catholic churches in County Antrim, United Kingdom
Roman Catholic churches in United Kingdom
All churches in Antrim, County Antrim
Affiliations:
Website:
Social Media
St. Comgalls Church Antrim on YouTube
Leadership
Leader Name:
Very Rev Sean Emerson PP
Leader Position:
Parish Priest
Formal Title:
Leader Address:
Parochial House
3 Oriel Road
Antrim
County Antrim
BT41 4HP
3 Oriel Road
Antrim
County Antrim
BT41 4HP
Tel:
Fax:
Leader Email:
Leader Bio:
Sean Emerson - Born in Cushendall. Ordained to the priesthood on the 7th June, 1980. He served in Rathlin Island, Glengormley and Holy Family, Belfast before being appointed Parish Priest to St Comgall’s and St Joseph’s in Antrim from the 5th October, 2009.
Other Church Leaders:
Very Rev Sean Emerson PP on Social Media:
St. Comgalls Church Leadership Photos
Administration
Admin Name:
Mrs Bernadette Mann
Admin Position:
Parish Secretary
Admin Address:
Telephone:
Fax:
028 9448 8435
Admin Email:
Mailing Address
Driving Directions to St. Comgalls Church
Travel/Directions Tips
Parking
St. Comgalls Church Antrim Mass Times
St Comgall’s Church, Castle Street, Antrim, BT41 4HP
Masses:
Sunday: 9.00am, 11.00am
Holydays: 10am & 7.00pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 10.00am
Friday Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 10.30am-12noon
Confessions:
Sat 12-12.30pm,
St Joseph’s Church, Greystone Road, Antrim
Masses:
Sunday: 5.30pm (Vigil Saturday), 12.00noon.
Holydays: 11.00am
Tuesday , Thurs 10.00am.
Friday 7.00pm
Confessions:
Sat 4.45 – 5.15pm
St MacNissius Church, Tannaghmore, Antrim, BT41 2LD
Masses:
Sunday: 10.00am
Holydays:
Weekdays: 10.00am
Holywell Hospital
No mass due to Covid19
Antrim Area Hospital
No mass due to Covid19
Muckamore Abbey Hospital
No mass due to Covid19
Mass Times last updated on the 23rd of August, 2023
Masses:
Sunday: 9.00am, 11.00am
Holydays: 10am & 7.00pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday 10.00am
Friday Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 10.30am-12noon
Confessions:
Sat 12-12.30pm,
St Joseph’s Church, Greystone Road, Antrim
Masses:
Sunday: 5.30pm (Vigil Saturday), 12.00noon.
Holydays: 11.00am
Tuesday , Thurs 10.00am.
Friday 7.00pm
Confessions:
Sat 4.45 – 5.15pm
St MacNissius Church, Tannaghmore, Antrim, BT41 2LD
Masses:
Sunday: 10.00am
Holydays:
Weekdays: 10.00am
Holywell Hospital
No mass due to Covid19
Antrim Area Hospital
No mass due to Covid19
Muckamore Abbey Hospital
No mass due to Covid19
Mass Times last updated on the 23rd of August, 2023
Worship Languages
Dress code:
Children and Youth Activities
Under 12s:
Under 18s:
Local outreach & community activities:
Other activities & ministries
Special Needs/Accessibility:
Prayers and hymns:
Main Bible:
Hymns and Songs:
Other information:
Average Adult Congregation:
Average Youth Congregation:
Additional Info:
St. Comgalls Church Photo Gallery
St. Comgalls Church History
‘The Parish’ system of Church administration has been in existence since the 13th century. Drummaul Church (Antrim was under the direction of Drummaul at the time) appears in the records of the Taxation Role of Pope Nicholas IV in 1306, as recorded by Monsignor James O’Laverty in his ‘History of Down and Connor’.
Long before the Plantation era which began in 1606 several churches existed in the area, but even the ruins of these have long since disappeared. Three miles south of Shilvodan (Tannaghmore) towards the townland of Kilbegs (Little Church) there once stood a little church built by Saint Sillan after whom the nearby Mound of Dun Silly is probably named. Sillan later became Abbot of Bangor and his successor, who died in AD612 was known as ‘Fintan of Antrim’
By the beginning of the 17th Century the churches of Drummaul, were in ruins. After the Plantation, church lands passed to the king, as head of the reformed church and the penal laws were at their fiercest. The penalty for allowing Mass to be celebrated in ones house was £30 (by today’s value £600) and imprisonment for a year. Prior to the opening of the church in Randalstown, built by Father Peter O’Boyle in 1784, Catholics in the parish heard Mass in the open air at various places referred to as ‘Stations’. In some parishes there were Mass Rocks (Carraig an Aifrinn), the four in this area were: Tornarush (near Drumsough, Randalstown) Kilbegs (Milltown) Magillstown Race Course (between Antrim and Shanes Castle) and Shilvodan (Tannaghmore). Mass for the Shilvodan congregation would have been said on Drumkerran Hill, a little above the site of the ancient church of that Grange, dedicated to Saint Boden and administered by the Prior of Muckamore before the Parish System of Church Administration which was set up in the 13th Century.
In 1817 Father Bernard McCann began to raise funds to build a church in Antrim. The foundation stone was laid on 19th November, 1818. Following the completion of building and the consecration of the church by Bishop McMullan on 19th June 1920 Father McAuley was appointed parish priest. The cost to erect it was £1,400 which was raised by subscription. It accommodated 600 people of which, only 60 were seat holders (these were situated around 3 sides of the church on a raised gallery). The remainder of the congregation stood on the earthen floor during Mass.
Fifty-two years later in 1870 under his personal supervision, Father Henry O’Loughlin erected our present church on the same site, building it around the old church up to roof level before removing the old stonework of the previous church. It is worth noting that into the angle on the western side of the new church is worked what is undoubtedly a portion of the walls of the earlier 1818 edifice and in the southern transport gable niche there is the beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary; this statue stood above the main entrance on the original church. The Church was dedicated to Saint Comgall (founder of the Abbey in Bangor). In the year 822 when the Danes plundered Bangor Abbey, the relics of the saint were transferred from Bangor to Antrim.
The Annals of the Four Masters preserve the question in which the Saint foretold this:
“It will be True True”
“By permission of Supreme King of Kings, My Bones Shall Be Removed Without Defect from Beloved Beannchair to Aentrebh”.
(Bangor to Antrim).
In 1873, three years after the erection St Comgall’s Chapel, Antrim separated from Drummaul to become the Parish of Antrim.
In March 1828 Thomas Madden transferred the site for a new church in Tannaghmore to Father Cureo who erected the new church to Saint Mac Nissius in 1831. As a result of a legacy left to Father Vincent Davey for the church in the will of Mr Kerr improvements were made to the church and the opening ceremony took place in 1939. Father Murphy CSSR preached the sermon at the service in the presence of Most Rev Dr Mageean. The altar was a gift donated by Mrs Magee of Belfast, statues were presented by Mrs Blakinson Houston of Antrim and Mr James Davey of Belfast. Mrs McPeake of Templepatrick presented the Stations of the Cross.
St Joseph’s was built in 1972 to accommodate the swell of people to Antrim for work in the textile factory ( British Enkalon). Father George O’Hanlon was appointed parish priest and it became a thriving separate parish however due to the fall in the number of parishioners and a shortage of priests in the diocese it reverted to the Parish of Antrim in 2009.
The number of parishioners in Antrim Parish is currently in the region of 6,600.
Long before the Plantation era which began in 1606 several churches existed in the area, but even the ruins of these have long since disappeared. Three miles south of Shilvodan (Tannaghmore) towards the townland of Kilbegs (Little Church) there once stood a little church built by Saint Sillan after whom the nearby Mound of Dun Silly is probably named. Sillan later became Abbot of Bangor and his successor, who died in AD612 was known as ‘Fintan of Antrim’
By the beginning of the 17th Century the churches of Drummaul, were in ruins. After the Plantation, church lands passed to the king, as head of the reformed church and the penal laws were at their fiercest. The penalty for allowing Mass to be celebrated in ones house was £30 (by today’s value £600) and imprisonment for a year. Prior to the opening of the church in Randalstown, built by Father Peter O’Boyle in 1784, Catholics in the parish heard Mass in the open air at various places referred to as ‘Stations’. In some parishes there were Mass Rocks (Carraig an Aifrinn), the four in this area were: Tornarush (near Drumsough, Randalstown) Kilbegs (Milltown) Magillstown Race Course (between Antrim and Shanes Castle) and Shilvodan (Tannaghmore). Mass for the Shilvodan congregation would have been said on Drumkerran Hill, a little above the site of the ancient church of that Grange, dedicated to Saint Boden and administered by the Prior of Muckamore before the Parish System of Church Administration which was set up in the 13th Century.
In 1817 Father Bernard McCann began to raise funds to build a church in Antrim. The foundation stone was laid on 19th November, 1818. Following the completion of building and the consecration of the church by Bishop McMullan on 19th June 1920 Father McAuley was appointed parish priest. The cost to erect it was £1,400 which was raised by subscription. It accommodated 600 people of which, only 60 were seat holders (these were situated around 3 sides of the church on a raised gallery). The remainder of the congregation stood on the earthen floor during Mass.
Fifty-two years later in 1870 under his personal supervision, Father Henry O’Loughlin erected our present church on the same site, building it around the old church up to roof level before removing the old stonework of the previous church. It is worth noting that into the angle on the western side of the new church is worked what is undoubtedly a portion of the walls of the earlier 1818 edifice and in the southern transport gable niche there is the beautiful statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary; this statue stood above the main entrance on the original church. The Church was dedicated to Saint Comgall (founder of the Abbey in Bangor). In the year 822 when the Danes plundered Bangor Abbey, the relics of the saint were transferred from Bangor to Antrim.
The Annals of the Four Masters preserve the question in which the Saint foretold this:
“It will be True True”
“By permission of Supreme King of Kings, My Bones Shall Be Removed Without Defect from Beloved Beannchair to Aentrebh”.
(Bangor to Antrim).
In 1873, three years after the erection St Comgall’s Chapel, Antrim separated from Drummaul to become the Parish of Antrim.
In March 1828 Thomas Madden transferred the site for a new church in Tannaghmore to Father Cureo who erected the new church to Saint Mac Nissius in 1831. As a result of a legacy left to Father Vincent Davey for the church in the will of Mr Kerr improvements were made to the church and the opening ceremony took place in 1939. Father Murphy CSSR preached the sermon at the service in the presence of Most Rev Dr Mageean. The altar was a gift donated by Mrs Magee of Belfast, statues were presented by Mrs Blakinson Houston of Antrim and Mr James Davey of Belfast. Mrs McPeake of Templepatrick presented the Stations of the Cross.
St Joseph’s was built in 1972 to accommodate the swell of people to Antrim for work in the textile factory ( British Enkalon). Father George O’Hanlon was appointed parish priest and it became a thriving separate parish however due to the fall in the number of parishioners and a shortage of priests in the diocese it reverted to the Parish of Antrim in 2009.
The number of parishioners in Antrim Parish is currently in the region of 6,600.
St. Comgalls Church Historical Photos
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