DO YOU KNOW THAT 2026 IS THE JUBILEE OF ST URBAN’S CHURCH?

 75 years ago the Parish of St Urban was established. The Diocesan archives show that from 1902 to 1951 it was a chapel-of-ease to the Cathedral and the chapel was on Brookfield Road. In 1951 a presbytery was purchased on Monkbridge Rd and the first Parish Priest was appointed - Fr Eugene Tehan. The present St Urban’s opened in 1963 and the old chapel became the parish hall, unfortunately the hall was later demolished. We really should mark our anniversary. With this in mind, during the Holy Year of 2025, I commissioned an icon of St Urban from Aidan Hart. Aidan has an international reputation as a maker of icons.

The icon of St Urban is my personal gift to the parish to mark both the Holy Year and the church’s jubilee. The icon will be dedicated and blessed at the 10.30 Mass on the 6 th of September after our schools are back from their summer holidays and the August bank holiday. Afterwards we will have a “bring and share” lunch together to mark a special year for our parish.

Of course it not just be a “St Urban’s event” and people who normally go to Our Lady Of Lourdes are warmly invited, after all we are one parish family. On Our Lady of Lourdes, I have also personally commissioned an icon of ST Bernadette as Our Lady of Lourdes does not have an image of St Bernadette in the church.

Watch this space on that! Fr Chris