Tickets required for Mass in some Offaly parishes

In the summertime, talk about tickets usually revolves around major music festivals or high-profile sporting fixtures. But in some parts of Offaly, the limit on numbers at Church services has now turned weekend Mass into a ticket-only event.

With current guidance restricting the attendance at each service to 50, parishes in Clara and Tullamore are among those which have introduced a ticketing system in an attempt to avoid having people who wish to attend Mass being turned away at the door this Saturday or Sunday.

At St Brigid's Church in Clara, there will be three Masses this weekend (Saturday at 7pm, and Sunday at 10am and 11.30am) and the parish is requiring attendees to collect tickets for the services in advance.

Speaking to the Offaly Independent, parish priest, Fr Joe Deegan, admitted the introduction of a ticketing system had not gone down well with some of the parishioners in Clara.

"In order to come to Mass at the weekend in Clara, unfortunately you have to call into the Church and get a ticket. That was the only way we felt it would be fair. People arriving for Mass and being turned away at the door is something we want to avoid at all costs," said Fr Deegan.

"People call into the Church at specific times and pick up their ticket for the particular Mass that they want to come to. Some people are very unhappy with that, and they just feel it's very strange that they have to get a ticket to come to Mass.

"That doesn't sit easily with people who have faith and who like to come to Mass freely. It's an unusual predicament for people."

Speaking on Thursday morning, he said "about half" of the 150 tickets for the three weekend Masses in Clara had been taken by that stage.

He said he understood people's misgivings about the ticket system, but the alternative, of having to turn people away, was "unthinkable".

"We will have to see how it goes. We're not sure how it's going to work, but we'll hopefully know more after the first weekend or two," he said.

Tullamore parish, meanwhile, said the reduction in capacity at its Churches meant tickets would be required for all services.

"Our churches will have greatly reduced capacities because of social distancing requirements. This is going to be a challenge and the fairest way of allocating places is with tickets for all Masses, weekdays, Sundays and funerals," said the parish on its website.

"Entrance to both Churches (Tullamore and Durrow) will be strictly on presentation of ticket and doors will open 20 minutes before Mass time."

It added that tickets for services would not be available on the doors and had to be collected from the parish centre in advance.

Public Church services resumed nationally from Monday of this week, after they had been halted for more than three months due to Covid-19.

The first Mass in Clara was at 7.30pm on Monday.

"We had a nice crowd for our first Mass on Monday evening. I'm hoping it was under 50, I didn't count!" he said.

"We have our Church marked out (for social distancing), and putting all of the restrictions in place is extra work, but it has to be done.

"It's great to be back, I have to say, and great to have a congregation again.

“I have been streaming Masses (online) but it's great to have people in front of you, rather than just looking at a camera," he said.