Local Pub livestreams communion, confirmation ceremonies
By Aideen O'Flaherty
THE FAMILIES of children who made their Communions and Confirmations in St Kilian’s Church in Kingswood in recent weeks got to watch the ceremonies on a livestream in the Kingswood Lodge – and they also gave donations to the local community centre.
St Kilian’s Church is usually teeming with the relatives of children making their Communions and Confirmations when the ceremonies are taking place, but as a result of the pandemic, only one family member could be present in the church with each child this year.
People enjoying the service on tv in the pub
The Confirmations for pupils from St Kilian’s Senior National School were held across three days earlier this month, while the Communions for pupils from the junior school were held from Monday to Wednesday this week.
Families filed into the Kingswood Lodge to watch the ceremonies take place in real-time, as they couldn’t be in the church.
Pius O’Connell, the owner of the Kingswood Lodge, told The Echo: “The school’s parents’ association approached us about [having livestreams in the pub].
“We’re very community based – we’re right in the middle of Kingswood Estate – and we’ll always do anything we can to help the community.
“We provided tea, coffee, scones and buns, free of charge, but we asked people to make donations to the Kingswood Community Centre.”
The ceremony on the tv screen in the pub
At the time of going to print, Mr O’Connell didn’t yet have a total for how much was raised for the community centre over the course of the six days, but he said €350 was raised from people who attended the Confirmation livestreams earlier this month.
The pub didn’t serve any alcohol during the ceremonies, and all who were there followed the social distancing protocols that the pub adheres to.
“The families were delighted that they could just come here and watch it,” said Mr O’Connell, “instead of having to go home and watch it on their laptops.”
The ceremonies were broadcast in the pub on four televisions using St Kilian’s Church’s livestream, and the proprietor said that his motivation for holding the events in his pub was to help the local community.
“I’ve been in a lot of pubs, I’ve spent my whole life working in pubs, but here, there’s just one road in and one road out of Kingswood, and it feels more like a village down the country,” said Mr O’Connell.
“Everyone knows everyone here, and I know the names of 90 per cent of the people who come into the pub.
“We’ll always do anything we can do to help the local community, when we can afford to do it.”
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