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The cross on the Galtee mountains, where Mass will be said on April 26 for the first time since the cross was erected.

It is hoped that the sun will shine and that crowds will flock to the Galtees on Saturday, April 26, for the first Mass at the Celtic Cross in almost forty years.

Fr Breen who is organising the walk is hoping that people will come out and support the sponsored climb up the Galtees, as donations from the climbers will go towards the Ballylanders Church roof fund and he added that this is the perfect time of year to discover how beautiful, timeless and historic the Galtees are.

Those taking part are asked to be at Kings Yard before 10am to depart at 10am for Mass at 12.30 and they will be led out by bagpipers.

Anyone who doesn't wish to ascend up the Galtees is invited to come along at 3pm for a celebration with music, song and dance and Galty Valley will provide refreshments.

All support would be greatly appreciated and those walking are reminded to wear suitable clothing and footwear and to register through www.ballylanders.com or contact any of the following numbers for more information: 085-7050055 or 086-8770007.

During the Mass, Fr Breen said that it will be a time to remember, a time to give thanks and a time to marvel. Fr Breen captures the spirit of what he wants the Mass to offer below:

A TIME TO REMEMBER

In December 1877, journalist William O’Brien decided to visit some of the 517 tenants on the Buckley estate on the slopes of the Galtees. He was guided by Fr Delaney PP, Ballyporeen. He names 16 families visited on that tour. We will call their names in our Mass.

This was his comment on one family: “A pot was boiling on the fire. It contained potatoes, the Sunday dinner for the family of ten”. About another home he wrote: “A streak of green slime came down the wall where the rain trickled down and collected in a hole in the floor, out of which it has to be bailed with a cup”.

It was upon poverty stricken families, such as these, that the landlords brought down a reign of financial terror. We surely owe them a remembrance.
 
A TIME TO GIVE THANKS

We plan to celebrate Mass in front of the 1962 patrician year cross, this is also the site of the 1933 cross which was erected by Bro Dominic McKenna to remember the 1932 Eucharistic Congress. In 1954, the Galtee Climbing Club erected the Marian Year cross.

So the site of our Mass has been made sacred by those who went before us. We will honour them and thank them. The present cross that stands on the Galtees was put there in 1975 by Joan and Ted Kavanagh, they deserve our gratitude.
 
A TIME TO MARVEL

The mountain is a timeless monument to our Creator. Paul J Flynn has an interesting comment on the origin and structure of the Galtees.

He writes: “For one reason or another, the skin of the earth crumbles at long intervals and forms wrinkles, with a kind of movement sideways very much as if a smoothly laid table-cloth were raised into wrinkles by sliding a finger along it”.

Later he explains that: “This earth movement met with violent resistance in the Aherlow district, because it would appear as if a vast sheet of rock had been broken off there and tilted upwards on the its northern side”.

So now you know why the Aherlow side is so much more challenging to climb. Then, of course, there was the ice age and the lakes it left behind, all very beautiful and a perennial attraction.

"There is much here to be grateful to God for. See you at the cross on the summit," Fr Breen concluded.

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