Former President McAleese to address Carlow Church as part of international Columbanus event

Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese will make an address at the Church of Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Myshall in County Carlow.

This comes as part of a number of events that will take place for Columbanus Weekend.

She will be making her address on Saturday the 12th of July 2025.

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The Columbanus Weekend programme will highlight Carlow’s spiritual, cultural and historical connections to the saint, with events taking place in Carlow Town and in the Parish of Myshall. The recently established Columban Way, a 571km walking route inspired by Columbanus’ journey from County Carlow to Bangor in County Down, also features prominently. On the morning of Saturday 12 July, pilgrims will walk a section of the route from the Nine Stones on Mount Leinster to Myshall, based on the theme of Walking Together in Hope keeping in the spirit of 2025 being the universal Jubilee Year of Hope for the Catholic Church.

Bishop Denis Nulty, who was central in bringing the Columbanus Weekend to Carlow, remarked, “The Columbanus Weekend is, for the first time, being hosted in the Irish Republic. It will be an opportunity to place Myshall, the birthplace of Columbanus, alongside the Saint Gallen’s, the Bobbio’s and Luxeuil’s of this world. I welcome this opportunity to reintroduce Saint Columbanus to Carlow and Ireland, a Saint who spent 48 years of his life on this island, with 24 years on mainland Europe. Our three-day festival comes in the middle of the Jubilee Year of Hope, may we be pilgrims of hope this July. The entire weekend brings with it enormous capacity to unite communities of different faiths and cultural traditions together, both in Ireland and across Europe inviting all to explore Columbanus’ significance to our everyday lives. This weekend is a testimony to shared faith and friendship, and to Carlow’s growing role in spiritual and cultural tourism.”