Living Faith

The story of the grotto at Stonebridge is also the story of the parish of Kilmore and of St Patrick's church. The newspaper photos reproduced in this booklet are of people whose families nave been worshiping here through the generations. The altar servers are but one example of the continuous faith line maintained and nurtured, boys, and now also girls, follow on from fathers who were themselves servers. The newspaper photo of the men, although not including all who were involved in the construction, together with that of the members of the ladies' committee (pages 12 and 13) form a virtual gallery or roll-call of family names still represented. Among those names who worship at Stonebridge today are Gallagher, Guy, Hughes, Keegan, Kerr, Loughran, McAtarsney, McCann, McKeever, McNeill, Morgan, O'Hagan, Williamson, while Davidson Dalzell and Rafferty are represented by connected families.

Spirit of Generosity

In any vibrant community people give generously to many initiatives. This is true of the grotto team; in 1955 Patsy McAtarsney was captain of the Ballyhegan Davitts, Tom Hughes, James Morgan and Frank McKeever were committee members, and Minnie Dalzell was a founder member of Kilmore Pioneer Council. The names recorded in this booklet are readily available, but many others also gave generously to build a grotto and to provide the continuing spiritual heritage we enjoy.