Mass will be celebrated at the Mass Rock in Farrahy on Thursday, 25th July at 7.30pm. The restoration of the Mass Rock was a Kildorrery Historical Society Millennium project and since then Mass has been held annually at the site.

The Mass rock was used as an altar in mid-seventeenth century Ireland as a location for Roman Catholic Mass. Isolated locations were sought to hold religious ceremonies, as observing the Catholic Mass was a matter of difficulty and danger at the time as a result of both Cromwell's campaign against the Irish and the Penal Law of 1695. Bishops were banished and priests had to register to preach under the 1704 Registration Act. Priest hunters were employed to arrest unregistered priests under an Act of 1709.

Because the activity was illegal, the services were not scheduled and their occurrence was communicated verbally between parishioners. The practice had waned by the late seventeenth century, when worship moved to thatched Mass houses.

In this year of The Gathering it is hoped that a large crowd will participate in the Mass as a tribute to those who suffered and sacrificed their lives for their faith in times past.

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