The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Historic event at O’Connell Church
HISTORY and the arts were in perfect alignment in Cahersiveen’s O’Connell Memorial Church on Sunday last when actor Donal Courtney’s world famous play, ‘God Has No Country’ was performed close to the final resting place of Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty.
The one man show charts the amazing life and times of the Monsignor, whose exploits in the face of fascist tyranny during WWII in Rome was brought to life before an audience of over 100 people.
The historic significance of Donal’s performance was not lost on the crowd and outside of the play’s staging in the Vatican, where Monsignor O’Flaherty was resident, a performance of the play in Cahersiveen brings it full circle as Monsignor O’Flaherty died and was buried there in 1968.
The Daniel O’Connell Church Committee helped organise the event with the aim bringing history to life. The play has been performed all over the world but this is the first time it was held in a church. The church associated with O’Connell even has a stone from the catacombs of the Vatican, which was gifted by the Pope when the church was being built between 1888 and 1902.
“We’re very proud and happy, as a community, to have had this play performed in our church,” said Pat Kavanagh. “It worked very well and when you think it was performed at the Vatican and now where the Monsignor is buried is very significant for us. “It’s an historic occasion in a big way and that was understood on the night,” he added. The fact Donal Courtney has
Cahersiveen links made the sense of occasion even more significant for the audience. Going forward the hope is the church can be used for similar events in the future.
“A lot of thought was put into getting Donal to perform. It was a unique occasion and Donal was very interested in doing it as he appreciated the historic link. We would like to thank Donal for his professional performance,” said Pat.