Saint Catherine's celebrates its golden jubilee
Minister Jennifer Murnane O'Connor cuts the ribbon to officially open St Catherine's Community Services Centre's new extension during their 50th anniversary celebrations Photos: Michael O'Rourke
SAINT Catherine’s Community Services Centre celebrated a significant double milestone last week, marking its 50th anniversary while officially opening a new extension to the facility.
More than 150 people attended the celebration, which saw Minister of State at the Department of Health, Jennifer Murnane O’Connor TD, perform the official opening of the new extension. Monsignor Brendan Byrne provided a blessing for the occasion.
The event featured a talk by Ann Carpenter, founding member and first chair of Saint Catherine’s, who shared insights into how the organisation first began in 1975, while a letter from the President Michael D Higgins was also read out.
The celebratory atmosphere included a live performance from travelling community music group Crush on Choir, an ice cream van and various children’s games and activities.
CEO Niall Morris highlighted the strong community support present at the event: “We had some of the local councillors, the Mayor of Carlow Paul Doogue, Cathaoirleach Ken Murnane and a lot of people representing other organisations around Carlow town; youth services, Bernardos, Tusla, HSE, etc. And of course, we had a lot of the founders who were involved in the original setup of St Catherine’s back in 1975.”
Niall emphasised that the day was about recognition: “Yesterday it was about acknowledging the founders of St Catherine’s, everybody who’s worked and supported St Catherine’s over the last 50 years, and acknowledging our existing volunteers and staff members who continue to fly the flag.”
The organisation relies heavily on its volunteer base, with almost 60 volunteers working alongside the same number of employed staff. Niall stressed their importance: “We literally couldn’t keep going without them.”
He noted the particular value of services like Meals on Wheels: “One of the things about the Meals on Wheels we provide is, when you think about it, it’s a daily welfare check on people who might be isolated. And sometimes the volunteer could be the only person calling to a person’s home that day.”
“What we hope is that people find St Catherine’s a welcoming place; somewhere that they go if they need help, assistance or guidance," he said. They can call in and, sure, if we can’t help them, we’ll probably know somebody who can.”
