Welcome to our Irish Spiritan website.
I hope you will find it a worthwhile visit.
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit – more commonly known as The Spiritans – has missionaries in a total of 56 countries. Members of the Irish Province currently serve in 15 of these, across Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and the Americas.
In Ireland, best-known by many for our long-established work in education, Spiritans are also responsible for the pastoral leadership of four parishes, in the Archdiocese of Dublin, and assist more than a dozen other parishes throughout the country. Hospital chaplaincy has been a significant part of our ministry, especially in recent decades. The Spiritan Asylum Services Initiative (Spirasi), set up in 1999, has supported over 5,000 victims of torture to cope with their past and take their place in Irish society.
An Tobar, our Retreat and Spirituality Centre at Ardbraccan near Navan, can accommodate over 20 participants. Drawing from various spiritual traditions, the Centre offers opportunities to heal, be reconciled, share, reflect and pray, all in a calm atmosphere of prayer and meditation, It also offers the opportunity to celebrate the major Christian feasts of the year in a prayerful atmosphere, and a range of workshops, retreats, and events related to Justice, Peace & the Integrity of Creation.
Many of our older missionaries are now semi-retired in our larger communities but still contribute to ministry in parishes, hospitals, nursing homes, schools and convents. After a lifetime of service to others, whether in Ireland or on overseas mission, they are beginning to rest from their labours.
We invite you to study the fruits of their labours from all round the world – outstations and parishes, dioceses and cathedrals, schools – basic and functional literacy, primary, secondary as well as universities, clinics and hospitals, works in shanty towns and refugee camps, farms, cooperatives, development and relief programmes. And much more.
As I welcome you to our new website I am reminded of St. John Henry Newman’s saying: “to live is to change, to be perfect is to have changed often.” Thank you for joining us on this ever-changing journey.
Fr. Martin Kelly C.S.Sp
Spiritan Provincial
