Limerick priest gets baptised at drive-thu Confirmation after heavens open

CAHERLINE NS pupils will never forget their unique drive-thru Confirmation, said Aidan Mannix.

The father of Lily - one of the 26 children to be confirmed on Wednesday - praised Fr Roy Donovan and teachers.

The plan was to have the ceremony outdoors but then the heavens opened. But the popular parish priest and teachers had a plan B to hold it with the children in their cars.

"All the kids were delighted with the novelty of it and they didn't get wet. The kids have missed out on so much and Fr Roy spoke poignantly in his sermon about FOMO - fear of missing out. 

“The priest and teachers were willing to get drowned wet in order to let kids do their Confirmation. Half these kids won't be in the school in September as they will be moving to secondary school so options of them doing their Confirmation together will be gone. Fair play to Fr Roy and fair play to Caherline school,” said Aidan, who is married to Kirsten and they have another daughter, Freya.

Due to the limit of 50 on indoor gatherings it wasn’t possible to hold it in the church so they went for the open air option.

A big thank you to Caherline NS & Fr Roy for making a special day even more special #covidconfirmation #drivein . @DamoGrimes ,@DermotTodayFM pic.twitter.com/9bIUlJWiwE

— aidan mannix (@1974Mannix) August 5, 2020

Lily Mannix, aged 11, even did one of the readings from the her parents' car.

"They came over to the car with the microphone. The priest and teachers were willing to get drowned wet to make sure the children stayed dry.

"They had no umbrellas because they couldn’t hold the microphone as well. They didn’t care about getting soaked. It was so novel that it will be a day the children will never forget,” said Aidan, who praised the principal Mr Power, teacher Ms Hickey, Fr Roy and all involved in the day.

Thankfully, the sun shone down when it came to anointing the boys and girls.

A post on Caherline school’s Facebook page reads: "Well done to all the pupils who received the sacrament of Confirmation yesterday. We hope that you and your families enjoyed the ceremony and had a lovely day afterwards.”

They thanked parents / guardians and sponsors for being so understanding about the ceremonies given current guidelines. 

"Thanks to Mr Heffernan and Ms Hickey for preparing the pupils and for their work in organising the ceremonies, as well as all the other school staff who helped out on the day. Thanks to Micheal Murnane for all his work around the school, in the lead up to the day.

"Many thanks to Fr Roy for giving such a beautiful ceremony, despite challenging circumstances," read the post.