Nuala O’Toole is a member of the Firhouse Parish Team
Local Faces: Nuala O’Toole
Nuala O’Toole is one of those unfortunate people who were born on Christmas Day, and last year’s was her 88th in a row to be cheated out of a present, writes Ken Doyle.
Of her early years, Nuala tells me, “my parents were Jim and Pauline Doyle and I grew up with my three sisters. We lived on the Blessington Road in Tallaght and I attended St Mary’s School in Tallaght Village.”
Nuala Married Patrick (Roy) O’Toole who was an Engineering Smith and Welder in 1958. They proceeded to move to Mount Carmel Park in Firhouse and they welcomed four children.
“When we moved up there was nothing at all here. The odd house and one little shop and other than that, it was a wilderness.”
That was all about to change, as Firhouse was about to experience the Nuala O’Toole effect.
Nuala wasted no time and quickly became a active member of the Parish in Firhouse.
At that time there was no church in Firhouse, and Mass was held in the Carmelite Convent and was conducted by the priests from Terenure College.
After some time, the parish was given a priest of their own, a man who would become a local legend, Father Micheal Hastings, and Mass was now conducted in Scoil Carmel Firhouse.
The parish of Firhouse was starting to grow and along with new houses, a new school was built in the shape of Scoil Treasa Firhouse.
Father Hastings then was the force behind getting a committee set up to help fundraise to build a Church in the diocese of Firhouse and he was later joined in his sterling work by Father Noel Madden.
Nuala O’Toole was born on Christmas Day
Nuala was at the helm of this committee along with many other ladies of Firhouse: Greta Lawlor, Maire Murphy, Maura Kennedy and Pam Smith who worked tirelessly fundraising, holding Christmas bazaars and much more.
Through all the hard work the Church (Our Lady of Mount Carmel) was opened in Firhouse on the 27th of May 1979.
The work still had to continue for the Church and Nuala was part to the committee to organise the envelope collection where money was donated weekly by parishioners and put into envelopes it had to be collected and then counted.
She was also on the board of management of Scoil Treasa Firhouse organising events to support and help fund the school.
When we talked Nuala warned me, “Don’t make me out to be a saint!”
Naula was an active member of the St Vincent De Paul for 20years calling weekly to vulnerable people of the parish and getting them help and support.
I daresay there are some people in her community who consider her a saint but we’ll carry on.
It seems scarcely possible for one woman to do so much but Nuala was also active on the parish pastrol council and the finance committee in the church and also a minister for the Eucharist.
Nuala O’Toole lived on the Blessington Road in Tallaght
Then came what Nuala described as a “lovely Surprise” as she was put forward by the Church of Firhouse in 2015 to receive a papal medal for all the work she had done to support the Church through the years.
She received the medal from Fr Peter Reilly on the 30th of August 2015 which was a truly special occasion, and it had been awarded by Pope Francis.
As you would expect, Nuala loves her parish and the people in it, she tells me,
“The parish of Firhouse has of course grown over the many years with many new homes and two new schools which is wonderful to see and with this we see new people in the parish taking on roles in the church.
‘I still attend mass every Sunday and am delighted to have been part of a fantastic group of people form Firhouse, Priests, teachers that worked together in faith and friendships to help build and be part of the wonderful parish of Firhouse.”
We’re delighted to feature Nuala this week and no doubt she will be front and centre at the Firhouse Parish’s 60th anniversary celebrations later this year.
