'The Old Church'
Author: Seamus Kavanagh
from 'Reflections in Rhyme'

'The Old Church'
Author: Seamus Kavanagh
from 'Reflections in Rhyme'

For two hundred years it's stood
among the Wicklow Hills
the source of people's hope,
the cure for many ills.
It was built by Fr. Blanchvelle,
with faith and a hundred pound,
and it's fitting that he rests
inside the church he found.

The church bell was the clarion call
never ceasing through the years,
the harbinger of happiness,
sometimes the source of tears.
In silence now it stands
but close your eyes and you will hear,
carried on the wings of time,
voices raised in prayer.

Along meandering mass paths
people came to pray,
it was faith that gave them strength
and helped them on their way.
It was there to offer solace
to the men of ninety-eight
while prayers were said in Easter Week
for those who met their fate.

It survived man's inhumanity,
the grief of two world wars,
and was there on a July evening
when man walked among the stars.

But its doors they remain closed now
locking in the memories there,
of those who knelt throughout the years
and talked to the Lord in prayer.
Amnd though they are departed now
they haven't gone too far,
for they've found rest and sleep in peace
'neath a stone in the churchyard.