Canon Patrick Heaney

Canon Patrick Heaney was born in Garrymore, Co Mayo in 1826 and was educated in the Irish college in Louvain, Belgium, where he studied for the priesthood and was ordained in 1856 (Higgins and McHugh, 1990). Prior to his appointment as Parish Priest (P.P.) in Caherlistrane in 1870, Canon Heaney taught at St. Jarlath’s College in Tuam (Ibid, 1990). Heaney initially lived in a house in Headford before moving to the priest’s residence in Ballycolgan in 1875, but was later evicted by the landlord Mr. St George of Headford Castle (Hughes, 1990).  After the ownership of the house was transferred to a Mr McDonnell of Dunmore, Canon Heaney returned to the residence in Ballycolgan, however, he was not overly satisfied with the standard of accommodation which he made known in correspondences to his landlord (Ibid, 1990).

Church of Mary Immaculate and St. Joseph Caherlistrane

Shortly after his appointment, Canon Heaney devoted much of his attention to the construction of a new Church in Carheenard on lands donated by Mr John Kilkelly of Mossfort (Tuam Herald, 1873). The original chapel was also in Carheenard, on the townland boundary with Ballintleva, opposite the turn off to Beagh Beg/Bellanagarraun. Writing in May 1877, Canon Heaney described the then chapel as having a roof of “an old thatched house…crumbling into ruins”, with much of the congregation exposed to the elements as the chapel could not accommodate the numbers attending mass (Ibid, 1990).

The contract for the church was £2,000 and funds were raised through cessed subscriptions, donations from local landlords, through raffles that offered prizes such as £100 and 10 sheep, with tickets costing 6 pence each, and from a fund-raising trip to the USA by Canon Heaney himself which raised about £1,000 (Ibid, 1990). Construction work began in 1877 and continued until 1882 with the contractor being a Mr Stanner of Ballinrobe Co Mayo, the stone-works were conducted by William Corley of Westport Co Mayo, windows were made and installed by Mayer of London & Munich, timber-work was done by Frank Flannery of Ballinrobe Co Mayo, while the plastering was done by Andy Connor from Inishmacatreer Co Galway (Ibid, 1990).

Canon Heaney celebrated mass in the new church on Christmas Day 1881 (Ibid, 1990) while the structure would still have been under construction. The present porch, pictured above, was a later addition to the church and used stone from the Columban College in Dalgan, Shrule Co Mayo which was vacated in 1941 (Ibid, 1990).

Canon Heaney’s Legacy

The church is not the only legacy of Canon Heaney’s time in the Parish as he oversaw the construction of three schools between 1886 and 1893 in Kilcoona, Caherlistrane and Knockroon, as well as a teacher residence in Kilcoona and Caherlistrane (Ibid, 1990). The Kilcoona school was actually located in Mausrevagh and closed in 1989 with the opening of the new school. The building is still extant. The Caherlistrane school was built adjacent to the site of the old chapel in Carheenard replacing the existing school and remained in operation until Donaghpatrick National School opened in Beagh Beg in 1942. The Knockroon School was opened in Largan in 1893 and was demolished c. 1970 to make way for the present school. Canon Heaney’s legacy still survives to this day in the church he helped build and in the school construction he oversaw helping to educate the local population for generations. He died in 1903 and is buried within the very church he desired for his parishioners (Ibid, 1903).

PRAY FOR THE SOUL OF THE VERY REV PATRICK CANON HEANY P.P. DONAGHPATRICK AND KILCOONA – THE GOOD PASTOR OF THIS PARISH FOR 30 YEARS – VENERATED FOR HIS HOLY WORKS HE DIED JUNE 19^TH 1903 THE FEAST OF THE SACRED HEART. TO HIS ZEAL AND THE GENEROSITY OF HIS FLOCK AND THAT OF THE IRISH IN EXILE, THE PARISH IS INDEBTED FOR THIS CHURCH WHEREIN HIS REMAINS AWAIT A GLORIOUS RESURRECTION. ERECTED BY HIS NEPHEW REV M. HEANY P.P. AND PEOPLE OF THIS PARISH.

 

References

Higgins, J. and McHugh, A. (1990) The White Canons: Abbeytown, Cill-Na-Manach 1260-1990: A History of the White Canons and other Historical Places in the District of Maigh Seola. Galway: The Crow’s Rock Press

Hoppen, K.T. (1998) Ireland Since 1800: Conflict and Conformity. Second Edition. Pearson Education. Harlow

Hughes, M.J. (1990) Caherlistrane G.A.A. and 150 Years of Irish Life. Caherlistrane G.A.A. Club. Tuam

Tuam Herald (1873) New Catholic Church at Caherlistrane