© St Munchin's church
The present day church of St Munchin was consecrated on
Easter Sunday 1922. The foundation stone of the church states that the
church was built during the tenure of Canon O'Driscoll as parish priest
and Bishop Hallinan as bishop of the diocese. The architect of the church
was J. O'Malley and the builders were J. Kenny & Sons.
© Crucifixion scene outside St Munchin's church
Outside the church, on the left, there is a life size Crucifixion
scene. The Bishop, priests and religious of the Diocese of Limerick erected
this to the memory of Canon Andrew Murphy PP on Good Friday 1929.
The High Altar of the previous St Munchin's church once
stood on this site. In the sacristy of the present church, there is a
photo of the two churches side by side taken before the old church was
knocked.
Inside the church on the right is the Baptistery. This was
donated by Sir Vincent & Lady Nash in memory of their eldest son James
who was killed near Arras, France on March 27 1918, aged 20. James was
a Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion of the Irish Guards.
© Shrine to Our Lady of Fatima and the Child of Prague
Near the Baptistery, there is a statue of St Brigid. There
is also a mural of the Mother & Child on the right of the Baptistery.
In the sacristy there is a statue of St Munchin on which there is an inscription
asking people to pray for the Nobertine Community, Kilnacrott and their
friends.
© Altar in St Munchin's church
At the back of the church on the left, there is a shrine to Our Lady
of Fatima and a statue to the Child of Prague. Further up the nave of
the church on the left, there is a plaque to Michael & Kate Geraghty,
in memory of whom their daughter Delia erected the Stations of the Cross.
Also on the left of the nave, there is a plaque commemorating George
Clancy, Mayor of Limerick who was killed during the Civil War on March
7 1921 by the English Crown forces. According to the plaque, which is
written in Irish, the lectern and plaque of the church were erected to
commemorate faithfulness for Ireland and the people's affection for Clancy.
Beside this plaque there is a smaller plaque that states that Mrs Clancy
donated a cross and 2 candlesticks to the church in her husband's memory.
This plaque also mentions Cait Ní Cillín and Tadhg Ó
Cillín who died on 4 March 1921.
© Statues in St Munchin's church
On the right hand side of the nave, there is a plaque to
the memory of Micheál Ó Ceallacháin who was the Mayor
of Limerick in 1920. The plaque is in Irish and states that he was the
first Mayor who gave loyalty to the Republic because of his faithfulness
to the freedom of Ireland. He was killed on March 7th 1921. His wife Cait,
Diarmuid O'Donovan and his wife Mary erected the plaque.
There is a statue to St Anne in the left transept. There is also a small
plaque that states that the choir members of St Munchin's church donated
the church organ in February 2000. On the left of the altar, there is
a brass crucifix. Above this, there is a statue to the Sacred Heart.
© Statue of the Sacred Heart
On the right hand side of the altar, there is a statue of
Our Lady. The family of Lillie Dillon donated this statue to the church.
Lillie was sacristan in the church from 1988 until 1994. There is also
a picture of St Joseph, which was donated by the late Nellie Goodwin.
There are pictures of St Bernard and of the Family Rosary.
In the right transept, there is a statue to St Theresa of Lisieux with
the inscription "Je veux passer mon ciel a faire du bien sur
la terre". Further to the right in this transept, there is a
meditation chapel.
The High Altar is to the memory of Margaret Carroll and was erected by
her daughter Elizabeth Carroll from Albany, New York. The lectern depicts
the scene of Jesus and the Little Children. Behind the altar there are
three stained glass windows of (from left) St Munchin, Mary Mother of
Sorrows and St Michael.
© Carving on Lectern in St Munchin's church
The stained glass window of Mary, Mother of Sorrows was
donated by Diarmaid O'Donovan and his wife Mary to the memory of Michael
O'Callaghan who died in 1921. The stained glass window of St Michael was
donated to the memory of Micil Uí Ceallácáin by his
wife Cait. There is a large crucifix suspended over the altar.
© Stained glass windows behind altar in St Munchin's church
There are large stained glass windows above the main door
of the church. The windows depict (from left to right) St Peter, The King
of Kings and St Bernadette of Lourdes. Mrs Donnellan and her family donated
these stained glass windows, which were designed by F X Zettler of Munich,
Germany.
Buried in the grounds of the church are:
Canon William O'Dwyer, P.P. 1926-1945, Died January 14 1945
Archdeacon
Michael Manning, P.P. 1979-96 Died Oct. 19 1996, aged 70
Canon
Andrew Murphy P.P. 1910-14 Died June 18 1914, aged 53
Daniel
Synan PP, Parish Priest 1849-1850, Died Oct. 3 1850
James
Moore PP, Parish Priest 1850-1863, Died Nov. 4 1863, aged 80
Canon
Michael Breen PP VF, P.P. 1965-1979 Died Nov. 24 1979
Canon
James M. Cregan PP VF, P.P. 1926 Died Aug. 7 1926, aged 69
Canon
David O'Driscoll PP VF, P.P. 1914-1923 Died Dec. 8 1923
 
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