Ballina People part two: Fr Patrick Peyton

Fr Patrick Memorial Centre, Attymass, Ballina

Launching his book - 'Ballina & Area People' - which explores the lives of many individuals from the North Mayo area, author, Terry Reilly, said: "Some emigrated. Others stayed at home. All made their mark in one way or another. They are all examples of people who, in the toughest of times, not only survived and excelled, but can be held up as inspirational figures."

One such inspirational figure is the world famous 'rosary priest', Fr Patrick Peyton. Much has been said in books and in films over the years about this remarkable man who was born at Carracastle in the parish of Attymass, near Ballina in 1909. I published articles here on 24 December 2017 - www.indcatholicnews.com/news/34048 - and on 19 December 2019 - www.indcatholicnews.com/news/38534 - about the now Venerable Patrick Peyton.

It was no surprise that Terry Reilly would remember this famous son of the Ballina area. The great advantage Terry had in writing about Fr Peyton is that he knew him personally having interviewed him several times as editor of The Western People newspaper.

Terry's first experience of Fr Peyton was as a young pupil in Ballina National School when the priest visited the school on 5 June 1954. His next experience was the following day when almost 20,000 people assembled in James Stephens GAA Park in the town to listen to Fr Peyton preach.

Terry writes: "'The longing of my life has been the privilege of standing before my own dear people who have given me everything that I have' Fr Peyton told the hushed congregation in that hypnotically soothing voice of his, a voice that had already been heard in the preceding days around the West of Ireland at similar crusades. After reciting the rosary, leading the attendance in that slow, natural Mayo style of his, he spoke of the protection, defence and ennoblement of womanhood which the rosary represented." So significant was the rosary crusade around Ireland and Fr Peyton's presence that the Irish Independent daily newspaper published a special supplement on the event.

"Fr Peyton's devotion to Mary was without condition. Having contracted TB as a young emigrant to America while working as a janitor, he had pledged his life to the Mother of Jesus if she interceded with her son so that he might be cured. He was cured, became a priest and commenced his rosary mission in 1942, setting out to lead tens of millions of Catholics throughout the world in the family prayer, citing time and time again his simple but ever so effective message, 'the family that prays together stays togeth'."

Terry reminds readers that: "An estimated two million people attended his crusade in São Paulo in Brazil; one-and-a-half million in the Philippines, in Manila. Even in Europe he drew the crowds - 800,000 flocking to his rally in Madrid. His rallies in Ireland in 1954, and subsequently at Knock Shrine, also drew huge crowds, while in the US, in excess of half a million people turned out in San Francisco; an estimated 250,000 in Minneapolis; and the famed Polo Grounds in New York was stretched to capacity for the 100,000 who came to hear him preach and pray. In all, it is estimated that more than 28 million attended his worldwide rallies.

"When I asked him about these huge crowds his eyes would smile gently but it was always a smile of humility, never, ever a boast. He'd speak of the goodness of people, their yearning for grace for their families, and their devotion to Our Lady. Never would he claim he was a great orator or boast that he had the power to draw people. He was merely an instrument, he'd say, carrying out a mission, fulfilling his devotion to Mary, Mother of Christ, praying the Rosary he loved so very much.

"Though I had met him many times, certainly my most memorable conversation with him was in 1987, when a nurse came to my bed in the County Hospital in Castlebar and told me there was a call for me down at the nurses' station. I had been in intensive care for several days and had been anointed but was now making a steady recovery and was able to make an assisted short walk to the phone. When I answered there was no mistaking the voice at the other end. 'Hello Terry' he said, 'I hear you are laid up. You will be in my prayers to Mary'. He said a short prayer down the line, and we had a quick chat before he was gone. I later learned he was in Ireland to collect the Mayo Person of the Year Award. Who asked him to ring? I'll never know. His prayers certainly worked for within a week I was discharged to begin a lengthy convalescence." What a great personal account by this experienced journalist and author.

Fr Peyton made a final visit to Attymass in July 1991 to celebrate the golden jubilee of his ordination. It was a joyous occasion, but it was clear then that the great crusader was in declining health. Around that time, he did a series of interviews with another Ballina man, Tom Courell, editor of the Connaught Telegraph newspaper, which were aired on Mid-West Radio. After returning to the USA, he was hospitalised three times for congestive heart failure. On the evening of 2 June, in the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor in San Pedro, California, he could not finish his daily rosary for the first time in his life, and the Sisters told him they would finish it for him. He passed away peacefully, clutching his beads, at 5.20am on 3 June 1992. His last words were: "Mary, my queen, my mother." He was laid to rest on 8 June in the Holy Cross community cemetery at Stonehill College in Massachusetts.

Today in Attymass, the Fr Peyton Memorial Centre stands in his memory. It was officially opened and dedicated on 10 October 1998 to commemorate his life and apostolic work. It is a place of respite, prayer and peace, and houses the spectacular presentation of Fr Peyton's life story, a photographic exhibition of the prayer crusades, and complete with a cosy café famous for its home baking. Visitors are welcome with an invitation to relax and enjoy the spectacular view of the Ox Mountains from the contemplation garden which is dedicated to "Peace in Ireland". I am happy to say that my book - "The Legacy of Irish Missionaries Lives On" - is on sale in the Centre.

'Ballina and Area People' can be obtained online from www.terry-reilly.com. It costs €20 plus postage. It is a wonderful and easy to read history of inspirational figures from the area.

As I reported last week, the book also has a chapter on missionaries from the area who ministered throughout the global south serving the poor and the marginalised. In 2023, Ballina will celebrate its tercentenary as a town. I hope that a photographic exhibition on these missionaries and Fr Peyton can be developed and staged during these celebrations.

(Matt Moran is a writer and author living in Cork in the Republic of Ireland and is a native of Ballina. Author of 'The Legacy of Irish Missionaries Lives On', his forthcoming book is 'The Theology of Integral Human Development: The Role of Faith in International Development and Public Affairs').