Craigbane church sacristan to retire after an incredible 58 years service

Each morning and evening for the last 58 years, she has made the short trip across the road from her Slieveboy Road home to open and close the chapel.

She has kept everything in order - setting up the vestments and the altar, lighting the candles and preparing the church for each mass and special occasion.

For many years, the cleaning of the building, inside and outside, lay with Mena. Preparing the flower arrangements, polishing the brass and arranging the altar server rotas and readers were also part of her job.

Mena carried out all these duties while juggling motherhood - she had 11 children - and helping her late husband Gerry on the family farm.

Mena has been there for generations of Craigbane families - through baptisms, First Holy Communions, Confirmations, marriages and funerals.

She was always at the centre of preparations for bishops’ visits and missions as well as important celebrations throughout the church’s year.

Mena has rarely missed an event despite suffering two major tragedies herself - the death of her seven year-old son Philip Declan in August 1980 in a farming accident and her husband Gerry’s tragic death almost three years later in March 1983 in a road traffic collision.

Gerry was well known throughout the county for his involvement in the GAA - a North Derry County Board Chairman, he was also instrumental in the formation and continuation of Gaelic games in Craigbane.

His brother Philip had been heavily involved in the club's start-up in 1959, but it lasted just three years before folding again due to emigration.

In 1972, Gerry took it on and made it his own. The contribution he made is forever embedded in the club's present and future. Their grounds are named after him - Gerry Crossan Park.

Despite the heavy crosses she had to bear, Mena continued to manage the day-to-day running of the house and farm, all while continuing her role as sacristan.

In a few weeks time, Mena will lock the doors of St Joseph’s Church in Craigbane one last time as she prepares to retire from the role which has previously been carried out by members of the Crossan family for decades, including her mother-in-law Ellen-Jane and sister-in-law Eileen.

A native of the parish, Mena (née Gormley), recalls making the journey as a child to the same chapel for Sunday mass.

“When me and my sisters were wee we would have walked for 45 minutes to get to mass. Back then everyone was well dressed to go to mass. Everything was laid out the night before, your shoes were polished, the best clothes were out, along with the ribbons for your hair. My mother died when I was eight so my daddy reared the five of us, all girls. At that time, in the chapel, the men sat on one side and the women sat on the other side. My father would have gone to one side of the chapel and us five girls would have sat on the other side away from him.”

Mena met her husband Gerry, a local farmer, in Craigbane Hall and they later got married and set up home in the townland of Binn on the outskirts of Claudy.

While pregnant with their third child, Mena and Gerry moved into the Crossan family home where she still lives today.

In September 1968, a short time after moving in, Mena took on the role of sacristan in St Joseph’s Church.

Mena recalled the many duties she had to carry out in the early days, including lifting up the heavy seats so she could sweep and mop the floors.

“I went on to have 11 children so I was house wife, farmer’s wife and anytime there was anything going on in the chapel, I had to be ready to make tea and feed the visiting priests,” she said.“There were more things going on in the chapel back then too, you would have had benediction and the missions would have come around more often.

“A lot goes on behind the scenes - I opened and closed the chapel every day for the last 58 years, although it was handy as I live just across the road.

“I suppose I would have been the go-to for a lot of people over the years too because it’s 20 years now since we have had a priest living in the parochial house. Before people would have gone to see the priest say if they had a christening or something coming up but now they come to me.”

Mena’s family were also heavily involved in church life - her four daughters would have helped out with the cleaning while her sons were all altar servers.

“It was nice, my children being reared beside the parochial house because they got to know the priests well. Over the years I have worked alongside a number of curates including Fr Michael Mullan, Fr Michael Flanagan, Fr Colm Diamond, Fr Charlie Logue, Fr Noel McDermott, Fr Michael McCaughey and Fr Patrick McGuigan. I have also worked with various parish priests - Fr Peter Morgan, Fr Walter Carolan, Fr James Brennan, Fr Michael McEldowney, Fr Eugene Hasson, Fr Gerry Sweeney and Fr David O’Kane. I have enjoyed the experience, it’s been rewarding. I have no regrets and the priests were all very nice to me,” she said.

Regarded by parishioners in Craigbane as a pillar of the community, a special mass was held for 85 year-old Mena in early August to mark the occasion of her upcoming retirement.

Mena was delighted to see such a large turnout, including a surprise visit from her sister Bridie, who had made the trip from her home in Swindon.

“The amount of gifts and cards I received from the parishioners was unbelievable. People were so thoughtful and it meant a lot to me,” she said.

A tribute penned by the family, which was read out at the service, acknowledged Mena’s ‘lifetime of dedication and service to chapel life’.

“What started as a job became her life's work. This was in parallel to the untold stress and difficulties after the sudden and tragic deaths of Philip Declan and our daddy Gerry, and of rearing us, ten children, and carrying on farming,” read the tribute.

“Being sacristan was never just about what happened inside the chapel. There were days when the weather was against her. There were flooded drains and debris to be cleared. There were snowy steps, and pathways that had to be brushed and salted. There were phone calls to priests, giving updated Craigbane weather conditions on icy roads, and phone calls letting parishioners know of any mass cancellations.

“Whatever needed to be done, she did it. No fuss, no complaint - she just got on with it.

“There wasn't one big moment. It was 21,000 ordinary rainy, snowy, busy, quiet days, days when she was tired or not feeling her best. And that is what makes 58 years so remarkable. For decades, she hardly missed a thing.”

Parish Priest Fr David O’Kane, who is also set to retire next month, paid tribute to Mena’s ‘humble, gentle and unassuming’ nature.

“Mena served us (priests) all equally. She made no distinction between us. She knew our oddness, our rare ways, our particular notions and our different ways of doing things. At the same time as Mena reared her own family she saw the priests as just another part of her life and an extension of her care.

“Mena was always there. Holidays were put on hold, appointments were changed, family times were dictated by opening and closing the chapel and no task or time was refused.

“Mena has great faith, mixed with common sense and a genuine desire to serve the church. She is very understated, does not seek publicity, and is particular about linens, vestments and clothes associated with mass.

“Mena enjoy your retirement. You have been an outstanding servant to this church and an example to all of us of kindness, common sense; for preparing for the celebration of mass, christenings, funerals, weddings and other devotions. Thank you for your selfless dedication to family, to priests and to the wider Craigbane community,” added Fr O’Kane.

As Mena looks ahead to her retirement in the coming days, she said she is looking forward to spending quality time with family.

“I have two sisters living locally, Mary and Tessie, so I am hoping now when I am retired I will be able to enjoy spending time with them,” she added.