Irish Catholics gathered for Rosary Rallies today in defiance of the anti Catholic government in a shocking week in which attendance at Mass was made a criminal offence.
The Catholics gathered in various places across the country, including Cork, Louth, Wexford and Dublin.
In Cork, Catholics gathered at North Cork Cathedral and prayed the Rosary.
Socially distanced, they prayed towards the tabernacle while the doors remained shut.
Another Rosary took place in Wexford, placed in front of them was the Penal Altar that was used when Mass was last made illegal. It also took place on the 153th anniversary of the first Mass in the church, completed in the period after the Famine in the 1800s.
Elsewhere, Waterford City was the venue for a Rosary Rally also.
Catholics also gathered in Dundalk to pray the Rosary and to ask Our Lady for assistance in the restoration of public Mass.
Finally, there was also a group in Tallaght who prayed at a local statue of Our Lady.
There were also other groups who organised Rosaries today also in Galway, Kerry, Dublin and Limerick.
With the Irish State increasingly determined to keep Catholics from attending Mass and with the bishops increasingly caught in the headlights of formulating an effective response, these Rosaries are an important antidote. Next week, even more Rosary Rallies are expected to take place across the country.
