The worldwide head of the Dominican Order, Fr Gerard Timoner OP, visited Killacloghane Wood, Milltown, Co. Kerry, last weekend to mark the 372nd anniversary of the martyrdom of Venerable Fr Tadhg Moriarty OP, Prior of Tralee Abbey.
Fr Timoner, the Master of the Order of Preachers, celebrated open-air Mass at the historic Mass Rock where Fr Moriarty was arrested in 1653 while celebrating the Eucharist. The Kerry-born priest was later executed by Cromwellian forces in Killarney that October.
He was joined by Fr John Harris OP, Provincial of the Irish Dominicans, Fr David McGovern, Prior of Tralee, Fr Timothy Murphy, PP of Milltown, and other clergy. Over 200 people attended the ceremony, which included the use of the 375-year-old Moriarty Chalice.
Fr Harris said the Mass Rock “is more than a stone in a field, it is a testament that Christ cannot be captured, our faith cannot be silenced, and love cannot be chained.”
