Further to my earlier email this evening: one of the CC's during the period I mentioned  (late 50's, early 60's) was Father John/Jack Hanlon. To be honest, all the teenagers at the time went to him for confession ... because he didn't seem to  listen very closely. So much for the debate now raging about the clerics of that period. At any rate, he was a very talented painter, one of whose works - a small group of nuns at 'Recreation' - I saw among the paintings shown in the exhibition 'A Time and a Place' at the National Gallery c. Halloween 2006.

Slan agus Beannacht,
Michael Cannon

26/03/2010

21/10/2008

Dear Rick,

Thanx for your prompt reply.  You are most welcome to post this email, as you see fit. 

In fact, you may edit out the spelling update matter if you so choose.  After all, I just happened to come upon your website in search of replica churches similar to the Techny church.

The other church that I referenced existing in Tsingtao, China, was built in 1934 by the European wing of the SVDs.  (German was the language spoken by the priests)…I went to Mass there as an 19 year old sailor, while serving out a two year enlistment in the US Navy at the very end of WWII.  Little did I know that sixty plus years later, I would be attending Mass at another SVD very similar looking church. 

Given the fact that “my” two churches are quite similar in appearance, this fact set me out to see, if there were any/many other SVD churches, if anymore, were built like these.  I started my search using the search engine Google and “SVD churches”.  The return search listed many countries. 

And, of course, noting that one of the countries listed included Ireland (where my mother, Helen Mary Keown was born) , that’s where I decided to begin my church search.  Websites that included pictures of the churches, much like your Good Shepherd website does, were used by me to stop, look and move on, if the churches were not similar to my Techny reference source.  Now that I started down this ”road”, it probably is like looking for a needle in a haystack!  Except, I will probably come upon other nice surprises…like praying my Stations of the Cross at the Good Shepherd Churchtown website, thousands of miles from one SVD home to another.

Timed-interval:  In answer to your question about the “screen time” allocated for each Station before you automatically move on to the next slide, I found the programmed interval too quick…I assume that the programmed interval is the same for all slides…I worked my way through about 4 or 5 of the slides (Stations of the Cross only) and I was timed out towards the end of the Our Father in every case!  That means I still would have to have more time allocated for the Hail Mary and Glory Be!  And, I do not believe that I wasted any time working my way through the text…yet, I was always cut short by the program itself..it was too fast.  This is an interesting editing exercise in world-wide PowerPointing!

Enough said.  Rick, you need not reply to this never-ending  epistle.  Suffice it to say, good luck with your website.

Gregg  

20/10/2008

Dear Webmaster,

I am an 80 year old American, born and raised in the Chicago, Illinois, USA area (my mother was born in Down Patrick in 1892-3).  I am a parishioner at the Divine Word Mission Church (Chapel of the Holy Spirit), in Techny, Illinois, USA.  (Twenty miles north of downtown Chicago.)  Divine Word is the home base (aka Province Center) for the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) operations throughout the USA and many areas of the world.

While scanning through the Internet, searching for pictures of other SVD churches throughout the world that might have been built to resemble the Techny Church, I came upon the “goodshepardchurchtown.ie” website.  My attention was drawn to the “Stations of the Cross” linkage that you built into this website…very unique and very beautiful.

Having said that, and notwithstanding the differences in the English language in Ireland versus the USA, I believe that I came upon two spelling errors in the applied script that might have been overlooked in the development of your “Stations” program.  Please accept this email as a sincere and humble offering to just make a little better/correct what is already a wonderful religious experience.  So here goes what I think are typographical mishaps:  In the 8^th Station, in the sentence with “bigger that“, I believe it ought to read “than, not that.”  And, in the 14^th Station, in the fifth sentence with “The buried your body, but hey did not bury your message”, this ought to read “They buried your body, but they did not bury your message.”  Otherwise, I believe this website linkage was very well done.

Meanwhile, I am still searching for more look-alike SVD churches similar to the Techny cathedral-like building.  I did manage to find a smaller, and quite similar church in Quigdao (Tsingtao), China.  And, while my Internet (SVD church pictures) search continues, I am sure that I will revisit your great website again.

I hope the Techny Towers website attached link works in this email, for comparative purposes – http://www.techny.org.  If you visit this website, click on Techny Towers, it might trigger a possible recollection of other Techny-like SVD churches in Ireland.  After all, that’s how I came upon your very nice surprise…obviously, the Techny church pictures do not match yours, but your website, chimes and all, made the visit most memorable.  This was a very nice technically religious experience!

Sincerely yours,

Gregg Opelka

18/01/2008

17/08/2004

Dear Fathers and parishioners, past and present. 

I'm delighted to have discovered your website.  Was looking for a picture of the church to put on my parents 50th wedding anniversary Mass leaflet.  The Good Shepherd church holds many fond memories for myself and my brothers and sisters, baptisms, weddings and now our parents very special anniversary.  They have lived in Churchtown all their married lives and I know that the Good Shepherd has featured largely in that time.

I have fond memories of Friday afternoons at sodality meetings.  Believe it or not we actually enjoyed them. 

Good luck with the website.  I will definitely be dipping into it again.

Colette (Farrell) Walsh

Dear Colette,
Many thanks for your kind comments about our parish website.  All comments are very much appreciated.  Wish your parents well for their forthcoming celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary.  What a wonderful milestone that is.  What a wonderful example 50 years of marriage is, and how important it is to celebrate such an occasion.  I shall be remembering them in prayer on the day.
wishing you every blessing and happiness. 
Thank you for dropping by and please call again soon.

Fr Eamonn

18/08/2004

18th June 2004

Congratulations on your absolutely wonderful web site which brought back many memories for me and my family. We lived on Beaumont Avenue and saw the church being built. We remember very fondly Fr. Hyland and Fr. Kenney (who is buried on the church grounds).

As children we attended novenas and any other services my father would drag us to (it did not do us any harm). My mother prepared flowers for special occasions and she continues to live at 84 here in California with us.

I was very privileged to have celebrated my first mass at the Church of the Good Shepherd on June 3, 1968. The following year I officiated at the marriage of my sister, who now resides in Foxrock. My father was buried from there and on trips back to Ireland we always make it a point to visit the church. It was such an important part of our lives growing up in Dublin. The web site warmed our hearts and we will visit the site frequently. The church has a very rich history and we are so lucky to have been a part of it all.

God Bless

Philip McGovern

Dear Philip,
Thank you for visiting our parish website.  It is wonderful to hear that the site is so helpful to you. We are especially delighted that it is bringing back many happy memories to you!  As a parish we rejoice in the many faithful and committed people who have been part of the community here in the good shepherd down through the years, and who have made our parish what it is today.  There has sprung from this community many vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  This has not occurred out of a vacuum, but out of a faith-filled family.  Wishing you and all your family many blessings and kind wishes.  If you return to Ireland do please drop in and say hello.  You are welcome back to our site often!
Yours

Fr Eamonn

19th June 2004

25th May 2004

Dear Fathers and Parish Team,

I’m delighted to have found your website. I moved to the Parish a while ago and, since I intend to stay for a few years at least, I’m looking forward to getting involved a little – in the choir perhaps.

I’ve been living in Dublin 10 years now and have missed the community atmosphere which exists in my home town Roscommon with its fabulous Sacred Heart Church (http://www.sacredheartroscommon.com). Churchtown may well prove to be a close contender.

One thing I particularly miss are “the Stations” where mass is held in neighbours’ houses. My parents had one recently at home and it really was very special. I presume this is something that does not happen in Dublin?

BTW, congratulations on the website both in terms of design and content.

Kind regards,

Áine Mc Donagh

P.S. now that I have the mass times, there is no excuse for me being late! (I’ve gone by the bell ringing so far!).

Dear Aine,
Welcome to our parish.  You are most welcome to our community here in the Good Shepherd.  We hope that Churchtown will truly become your home and that you will spend many happy years here.  The choir always welcome new members so why not turn up on Sunday morning and introduce yourself!
We cannot promise that all we be as good as it is in Roscommon, but we hope we will come close!
Station Masses in Dublin are not so common unfortunately but i am sure that if you wanted to open your house to the neighbours we would be only too glad to assist.
Once again welcome!

Fr Eamonn

03/06/2004

12th April 2004

I have been cruising the internet and came across your website. Fond memories came back as an early memory in life was when the foundation stone of the Good Shepard Church was laid by, I believe, John Charles McQuaid. My parents brought me along to the bell being hoisted too and we were there for the blessing and dedication.

Rathfarnham was very different then, so much smaller. The milk delivery horses grazed in the field in front of the Hughes creamery and workers would come out from the inner city to pick fruit at Lambs. I think the shopping centre is there now.  Traffic was non existent. The pictures on the website bring it all back. Thanks for the memories.

God bless,

Kevin Molloy

Dear Kevin,

Thank you for visiting our parish Website.  Delighted to hear that it brought memories back to you of happy times.  Indeed Rathfarnham is a different place now than it was then, yet there is still the same wonderful people who made the parish such a prayerful and community orientated family.  Wishing you many blessings.
Fr Eamonn

12/04/2004

7th January 2004

Dear Rev Fathers and parishioners of the Church of The Good Shepherd Churchtown

Thank you all very much for the wonderful  funeral ceremony for my late father Patrick Buckley who was buried on 26/12/03. He will be sadly missed. Thanks as well to all the neighbours and friends who attended the funeral. It is much appreciated.

The website is very good and I will be a regular visitor as well as visiting the church as often as I return to Dublin.

Regards and God bless you all.
Michael Buckley.

Dear Michael,
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words to us.  The death of a loved one is a most painful and difficult time and so our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time of loss.  The funeral rites of the church are meant to bring comfort and consolation, and so we thank you for sharing with us the comfort that you received.
I will pass on your kind words.  Look forward to your future visit.
Fr Eamonn.

10/01/2004

I thought you might be interested in our web site:

 Kate 
Good Shepherd

Australia

5th January 2004

Well done on your web site

Kate Keady RSM,

Good Shepherd Parish, Gladstone Park, Victoria, Australia.

Dear Kate,

Thank you for your kind comments.  Good to hear from a fellow 'Good Shepherd' parish!  Thank you for visiting our site. The internet is really making the world so much smaller. Wishing you every blessing.

Fr. Eamonn

3rd December 2003

Dear Priests of the Good Shepherd Parish,

Your website is very well done.  It is very informative and gives much information that I would not have known without contacting a Priest.

May I respectfully suggest that you might include an 'icon button' detailing past and future pilgrimages that you intend to operate and notices of Retreats etc. eg. Father Hogan's Preparation for Christmas which I'm attending.

With very best wishes.

Patricia Mc Donnell

Parishioner

Dear Patricia,
Many thanks for your comments, they are most welcome and very helpful. We hope that our website will be as informative and as helpful as possible.  Thank you for visiting our site and we hope you return soon.
Fr.Eamonn