University College Cork
Sun 17 Nov 2024
starting at 9:30am
University College Cork
Sun 17 Nov 2024
starting at 9:30am
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I hope that whatever you are seeking you may find some steps here that will lead you to know the God of Love in your life. You are welcome to walk with us on our social media channels, too.
Bishop Fintan Gavin
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Parish groups, individuals and anyone with a desire to be part of this faith journey is welcome to partake. An annual collection in the parishes of the diocese is used to assist needy people with travel expenses and subsidises the expenses of required medica, professional help as well as voluntary carers for the sick.
People who need assistance are accommodated in a special hospital on the grounds of the shrine and this is staffed during the pilgrimage by people from Cork & Ross who volunteer to assist the pilgrims. The helpers and the able-bodied pilgrims stay in the hotels in the town - which are also near the Grotto. People are encouraged to join the Diocesan Pilgrimage as helpers, nurses and doctors to assist pilgrims in Lourdes. Contact:
The Diocesan Coordinators of the Pilgrimage to Lourdes are Fr. Charlie Kiely, Fr Damian O'Mahony and Fr. Marius O’Reilly. They are appointed by the bishop and work alongside a dedicated team of volunteer lay people.
You can find out more information about Lourdes at
Cork and Ross Pilgrimage to Lourdes 2024
The Diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes this year will take place from Friday 19th September to Wednesday 24th September under the patronage of Bishop Fintan Gavin.
The flights are from Cork to Lourdes. There is a choice of hotels from €939 pps and there will be a full Pilgrimage Programme.
Bookings are now open with Joe Walsh Tours on (01) 2410 800 for anyone wishing to travel as a pilgrim.
Volunteers are also required: Doctors, Nurses, Care Assistants and Helpers (Adults and Young Adults aged between 18-25 years).
A special Reunion Mass for those who travelled to Lourdes last September will be on Friday, February 28th at 7.30pm in the Church of the Incarnation, Frankfield, followed by a social afterwards.
This will officially launch this year’s pilgrimage, and all are invited and welcome to attend this Mass.
For general enquiries about the pilgrimage contact (085) 2525 040 or email:
Here Bishop Fintan invites everyone "to create in Cork and Ross something of what people experience in Lourdes".
Invitation to visit St. Bernadette's relicsSt. Bernadette witnessed eighteen apparitions of Our Lady at Lourdes in 1858 and countless millions of people have visited Lourdes since.
This visit of St. Bernadette’s relics will afford to the many people who can’t go to Lourdes an opportunity to be close to St. Bernadette and to Our Lady of Lourdes.
People will be able to venerate the relics at the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Anne, Cork, and at the Church of the Immaculate Conception, Clonakilty.
Almost 450 people took part in this year’s pilgrimage.
The week was filled with many blessings and a jam-packed schedule kept the pilgrims busy. On Sunday morning, the Cork and Ross group celebrated the International Mass at St Pius X Underground Basilica, and Fr Charlie Kiely led a walking tour around Lourdes that afternoon, walking in the footsteps of St Bernadette.
On Monday, Bishop Fintan celebrated Mass at the Grotto, with many watching the livestream from home. Following this Mass, the pilgrims did the Stations of the Cross. That evening, the Cork and Ross group led both the Eucharistic procession and the Marian Torchlight Procession.
On Tuesday, Mass with the Sacrament of the Sick was celebrated at the Cotte Grotte, which marked the official end of the pilgrimage.
With the afternoon free, many pilgrims visited the grotto, shops and cafes for a nice relaxed afternoon before the journey home on Wednesday.
Upper Mayfield Parish at Lourdes
The Grotto at Lourdes by nightWith this message, Bishop Fintan Gavin welcomed the pilgrims on the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes to Mass at the Grotto, the place where Bernadette saw Our Lady in 1858.
“It is the place to which we come on pilgrimage to encounter the love, healing presence and welcome of Mary, the Mother who cares for us, and of Jesus, the merciful God who loves us,“ Bishop Fintan said.
Over 400 people from the Diocese of Cork and Ross are in Lourdes taking part in the annual pilgrimage.
The Grotto at Lourdes is a stepping stone to an encounter with Christ, he said.
Visiting the Grotto in Lourdes on the Cork and Ross pilgrimageIn his homily, Bishop Fintan said: One of the most striking things about Lourdes is the silence.
"I encourage you whether at the Grotto, through our various Masses or liturgies, through the people you will meet, to rest in the atmosphere and to listen to the voice of God and what God might be saying to you as you come here to Lourdes”.
In the afternoon, the Cork and Ross pilgrims had the penitential and water gesture ceremony, where they had the opportunity for confession and to drink the Lourdes water. After, the pilgrims headed for the official passage through the Grotto as a Diocesan group.
Having photos of the group taken in front of the Basilica is a traditional part of the pilgrimage, too.
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