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An all night vigil was held as celebrations got underway for St. Columba’s Day.

The vigil took place at the Long Tower Church, which is believed to stand on the spot where Colmcille founded Derry in 546.

Columba is believed to have been born at Gartan on December 7, 521, and to have died at Iona in Dál Riada on June 9, 597. Alongside Patrick and Brigid, Columba is one of the three patron saints of Ireland.

Following Mass on Thursday night parishioners knelt ‘where he knelt’ and prayed ‘where he prayed in an All Night Vigil of Adoration’.

Children being blessed by The Most Reverend Dr Dónal McKeown, Bishop of Derry, during the traditional Saint Colmcille Feast Day Blessing at St Columba’s Well in the Bogside in 2022. Photograph: George Sweeney. DER2224GS – 035

The vigil ended with an open air Mass at 7am this morning at a hawthorn tree where Father John Lynch used to minister to the faithful during the latter days of the penal era.

Fr. Lynch, a native of Balteagh, who attended the Sorbonne in Paris, is credited with founding the modern church on the site of the original monastic settlement of Doire Cholmcille.

Prior to the establishment of the chapel Fr. Lynch used to say Mass at the tree or at his house in Ferguson’s Lane.

This year marks the 240th anniversary of St. Columba’s which was built between 1783 and 1788.

Parishioners pictured with The Most Reverend Dr Dónal McKeown, Bishop of Derry, and clergy during the traditional Saint Colmcille Feast Day Blessing at St Columba’s Well in the Bogside in 2022. Photograph: George Sweeney. DER2224GS – 036

Fr. Lynch is buried underneath the tree with a tablet memorialising: “Here grew the Hawthorn Tree under whose shade during every lull of the persecutions, Mass was frequently offered from 1585 – 1784.

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"The last Penal Mass was celebrated here in 1784 by Father John Lynch, who partly rebuilt the Long Tower and who lies buried beneath. He died, December 20th 1786. RIP.”

At 7.30pm today, the Bishop of Derry Dónal McKeown will celebrate Mass at the Long Tower in celebration of the city and district’s famous patron saint.

After the Mass the St. Colmcille Pipe Band will lead the traditional procession to St. Columb's Well for the blessing followed by refreshments and a traditional music session in the Long Tower Primary School Assembly Hall (church grounds).

St. Columba’s Day will also be celebrated at Gartan Lough with Mass at 7pm in St. Colmcille’s Church, Glendowan.

The Annual Gartan Turas in honour of St. Colmcille will be at 7.45pm at Gartan Abbey on Friday, June 9.

St. Columba’s Day celebrations underway in Derry

DERRY JOURNAL Editorial: Remembering Colmcille