Bishop Colm O’Reilly awarded Freedom of Longford
Former Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois Colm O’Reilly was bestowed a great honour by his community last evening [Monday, Nov 19th 2013] when he was awarded the Freedom of Longford.
The 78 year old resigned from his post as Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise earlier this year after thirty years at the helm and was subsequently succeeded by Bishop Francis Duffy.
Article - Audrey Healy | Photos - Michael Croghan
The decision to award him the freedom of the County was originally put forward by Longford County Mayor Larry Bannon at a recent meeting of Longford Council and unanimously supported by his chamber colleagues.
Speaking at the official ceremony, which took place in the Council Chamber in Longford Town, Mayor Larry Bannon paid tribute to the Bishop for his “care and compassion to the people of Longford”, and in particular to the associations of ACCORD, St. Christopher’s and St. Vincent de Paul.
Addressing the gathering which was attended by members of Longford Council Council and current Bishop of Ardagh of Diocese and Clonmacnoise, Bishop O’Reilly said, “It is a great honour for me to receive this award here tonight – I am only the fourth person to do so – and the first cleric. Having spent so much time in Longford I have a special attachment to my native County and if I had received the award in another place, though it would also be very much appreciated and welcome it would not mean as much.”
As the date of reopening St. Mel’s Cathedral for Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve 2014 draws ever closer, the much loved cleric spoke of those first few emotive days after that horrific event – and a strange occurrence which preceded it. “I have so many painful memories of that day in 2009 and have suffered many troubled sleepless nights. One of the thoughts going through my mind has always been ‘why should it happen to me?’ However I think about it more positively now and see it now, not as the end of a painful journey but the beginning of a new phase of a new life.”
He went on to recall something deeply personal which drew parallels with the Cathedral inferno. “I was in the city of Narobi in 1993 where I had occasion to visit for my brother’s illness. I became ill and was admitted to hospital on 23rd May for ten days when I had this horrendous nightmare in which the Cathedral was completely destroyed! The statues were gone and there was debris everywhere, it was so realistic, I couldn’t believe how this could happen to me and when the actual event happened in 2009 the devastation of that nightmare flashed back to me in my mind, it was so real. However I have put it all behind me now and God willing what’s ahead is happiness.”
The popular cleric joins a select number of other well known people who have been awarded the honour - former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, ex-county manager Michael Killeen and then GAA Director General Liam Mulvihill.