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Brief Parish History & Geographical Location
Bishop Henry Murphy created the parish of Our Lady Queen of Peace on September 21 1961. Before 1961, this area had been part of the parish of Donaghmore/Knockea. Until the creation of Our Lady Queen of Peace parish, the church in this area had been used as a chapel of ease in the parish of Donaghmore/Knockea. The church was built to accommodate the expanding suburb of Janesboro. The area was further divided when the south of the parish was separated to create the Holy Family parish on December 9 1969.
The present day population of the parish is around 5,000.
In Medieval Limerick, there were five parishes in Limerick City; St John's, St Mary's, St Michael's, St Munchin's and St Patrick's.
In recent times, the boundaries of these parishes have been altered to form the following parishes:
St Mary's was divided into St Mary's and St Nicholas' (1991).
St Michael's was divided into St Michael's, Our Lady of Lourdes (1963), St
Joseph's (1973) and St Saviour's (1973).
St Munchin's was divided into St Munchin's, Our Lady of the Rosary (1964),
Christ the King (1970) and Corpus Christi (1976).
St Patrick's was divided into St Patrick's, Monaleen (1971), and Our Lady
Help of Christians (1981).
St John's parish has not been altered.
St Paul's was formerly part of the parish of Mungret/Crecora and was created
in 1971.
Our Lady Queen of Peace (1961) and Holy Family (1970) were formerly part of
the parish of Donaghmore/Knockea.
Canon Rice opened Our Lady Queen of Peace church on December 8th 1942. The
architect was Mr Edward F. Ryan and the builders were Messers. Molloy &
Sons. The church cost £10,400.
Following the renovation of the church, Bishop Murphy and Fr Gerard Enright P.P opened the new extension in May 1965. According to a plaque situated behind the reredos, the architects were John Thompson & Assoc. and the builder was Thomas Hayes. The extension is in the shape of a polygon. Two extensions to the sanctuary were completed in 1982.
Some of the columns in the church were removed to improve
the visibility from the aisles. Under the direction of the engineer Michael
Punch:
"[T]runcated single pillars were put in place of the pillars removed
and where stress was greatest. The shortened pillars then carried the weight
of these trusses and the latter were post-tensioned, in position, to carry
the weight of the side-walls of the church".
(Murphy, E. J., History, Art & Architecture of the Places of Worship in
Limerick City)
Inside the church on the left, there is a plaque to Fr Patrick Houlihan who was curate from 1962 to 1975 and parish priest from 1975 until his death in 1985. Near this plaque, there is a picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. At the back of the church on the right, there is a painting of the Sacred Heart and St Anthony.
The cross over the marble high altar, shows Christ crucified
and risen and was made by Br. Benedict Tutty, a Benedictine monk in Glenstal
Abbey, in Murroe, Co. Limerick. Behind the high altar, there is a photograph
of Pope John Paul II.
There is a statue to St Joseph the worker on the right of the nave, and a
statue of the Madonna and Child on the left-hand side. Bill Hanley and his
wife Mary donated the statues of the Madonna and Child and St Joseph. These
statues originally came from Oberammergau in Germany.
The statue of the Madonna and Child is in memory of Fr P. J. Lyons who was the first curate in the parish in 1962 when it was formed.
The Baptismal font is on the right hand side of the church. The Stations of the Cross were donated in memory of Fr Robert O'Sullivan PP. The stained glass windows behind the altar represent the four Evangelists.
The windows on the right hand side on the church depict the
symbol of the bull (Luke) and the phoenix (John) while on the left hand side,
the windows show the an angel (Matthew) and the lion (Mark). The other windows
are from the 1960s and are of a plain design.
Shrine
A Marian Shrine was erected across the road from the church of Our Lady Queen
of Peace in 1954.
| Year | Parish Priest | Curate(s) |
| 1962 | Robert O’Sullivan | Patrick Lyons |
| 1963 | Robert O’Sullivan | Patrick Houlihan |
| 1964 | Robert O’Sullivan | Patrick Houlihan |
| 1965 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| 1966 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| 1967 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| 1968 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Patrick Bowen | ||
| 1969 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Patrick Bowen | ||
| 1970 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Patrick Bowen | ||
| 1971 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Patrick Bowen | ||
| 1972 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Patrick Bowen | ||
| 1973 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Patrick Bowen | ||
| 1974 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Antóin Ó Tuathaigh | ||
| 1975 | Gerard Enright | Patrick Houlihan |
| Antóin Ó Tuathaigh | ||
| 1976 | Patrick Houlihan | Gerard Cantillon |
| Antóin Ó Tuathaigh | ||
| 1977 | Patrick Houlihan | Antóin Ó Tuathaigh |
| Gerard Cantillon | ||
| 1978 | Patrick Houlihan | Gerard Cantillon |
| Anthony Jennings | ||
| 1979 | Patrick Houlihan | Thomas Ryan |
| Peter Bennett | ||
| 1980 | Patrick Houlihan | Thomas Ryan |
| Loughlin Campion | ||
| 1981 | Patrick Houlihan | Thomas Ryan |
| Loughlin Campion | ||
| Denis Daly | ||
| 1982 | Patrick Houlihan | Thomas Ryan |
| Denis Daly | ||
| Donough O’Malley | ||
| 1983 | Patrick Houlihan | Thomas Ryan |
| Donough O’Malley | ||
| 1984 | Patrick Houlihan | Thomas Ryan |
| Donough O’Malley | ||
| 1985 | Patrick Houlihan | Thomas Ryan |
| Donough O’Malley | ||
| 1986 | Maurice J. Walsh | Thomas Ryan |
| Donough O’Malley | ||
| 1987 | Maurice J. Walsh | Thomas Ryan |
| Donough O’Malley | ||
| 1988 | Maurice J. Walsh | Thomas Ryan |
| Donough O'Malley | ||
| 1989 | Maurice J. Walsh | Donough O’Malley |
| Joseph Shire | ||
| 1990 | Maurice J. Walsh | Donough O’Malley |
| Joseph Shire | ||
| 1991 | Maurice J. Walsh | Donough O’Malley |
| Joseph Shire | ||
| 1992 | Maurice J. Walsh | Joseph Shire |
| Michael Daly | ||
| 1993 | Maurice J. Walsh | Joseph Shire |
| Michael Daly | ||
| 1994 | Maurice J. Walsh | Joseph Shire |
| Michael Daly | ||
| 1995 | Maurice J. Walsh | Joseph Shire |
| Michael Daly | ||
| 1996 | Maurice J. Walsh | Joseph Shire |
| David Costello | ||
| 1997 | Maurice J. Walsh | Joseph Shire |
| John McCarthy | ||
| 1998 | Canon Maurice J. Walsh | Joseph Shire |
| John McCarthy | ||
| 1999 | Canon Maurice J. Walsh | John McCarthy |
| 2000 | Canon Maurice J. Walsh | John McCarthy |
| 2001 | Canon Maurice J. Walsh | John McCarthy |
| 2002 | John Donworth | John McCarthy |
| 2003 | John Donworth | John McCarthy |
| 2004 | John Donworth | John McCarthy |
| 2005 | John Donworth | |
| 2006 | John Donworth | Sean Sweeney |
| 2007 | John Donworth | Sean Sweeney |
The list of Priests is compiled from the Catholic Directories. Information contained in a directory of any given year refers to what happened the previous year. For example if a priest is recorded in the 1954 directory as being in a particular parish, this would mean that he was actually there in 1953.
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