On most Sundays of the year, a small crowd gathers at James’ Green in Kilkenny’s city centre. The reason is to say the rosary at the statue of the Blessed Virgin. Of course this is not exclusive to the city centre nor indeed Kilkenny.
Statues to the Virgin Mary are to be found all over Ireland, in villages and towns. What are they? They are the shrines and grottoes erected in honour of the Virgin Mary, in the Marian Year of 1954. These shrines usually show the Blessed Virgin as she was traditionally portrayed at this time: light blue hooded mantle, white veil over her head, hands clasped in prayer or palms spread outwards, showering graces on her children.
The shrines were described in Ireland’s Own magazine recently, “these shrines and grottoes are rarely very distinguished as works of art. Often, the figures are crudely sculpted, the paint peeling from decades of the Irish rain and wind. Still, however, you will usually find fresh flowers lying at the Virgin’s feet. Often, there are rosary beads, prayer cards and other little tokens left beside her, each one evidence of some heartfelt petition; recovery from illness, perhaps, or the hope for the healthy birth of a child.”
One such spot in Kilkenny where you will find one is at O’Dwyers cottage on the Waterford Road. And it was in the Marian year, that Philly Dwyer erected a statue in honour of Our Lady of Lourdes. As time passed, the original statue decayed which led Philly’s daughter-in-law Patty O’Dwyer to make a heartfelt promise, and that was to honour the Grotto and its sacred statue. After a lot of attempts to secure a statue, Patty’s husband Joe commissioned a marble statue which was crafted by Matt Gargan and Pat Murphy.
Recently, to coincide with World Day of Prayer, a rosary was held at the grotto on the Waterford road, celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Marian Year. The event was coordinated by John Ryan, who along with his wife and members of the O’Dwyer family regularly pray at the grotto.
The following is a poem written by Aoife O’ Dwyer:
In Foulkstown, beneath the sky of blue
Stands a grotto with a tale so true
Erected in ‘54 by Philly’s hands
A promise made in sacred lands.
Patty, a daughter in law, kind and true
Vowed to keep the Grottoes view
With a statue sourced from a nun so fair
To watch over all with loving care.
Through storms and nights so dark,
Joe and Patty left their mark
A legacy of Faith, Love
Guiding souls from up above.
I the heart of Kilkenny, a treasure rare,
The Grotto stands with a prayer
With each passing year, a celebration grand
For the Marian year, united we stand.
To conclude, we return to an apt comment from Ireland’s Own, “strictly speaking, the Marian Year ran from December 1953 to December 1954. It was to be a year of increased devotion to the Virgin Mary all over the Catholic world. The year was chosen to celebrate a hundred years since the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was proclaimed in 1854.”
