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Bethany Bereavement Support

​Bethany Bereavement Support has been serving parishes in Dublin since 1984.  The pain of loss is hard to bear and Bethany offers the bereaved adult a safe, free, and supportive space to journey through that grief. With a view to setting up a monthly Bethany drop-in Group Meeting in Sandymount Parish, we are looking for local volunteers to be trained as Bethany facilitators.
If you have experienced bereavement yourself and feel you have the ability to listen to and accompany others on their grief journey, please consider volunteering for the next Bethany Training course to take place in February2026.
Please contact Fr. Enda or Valerie (086-3703017) for further details.

​Sacramental Registration and Information Sessions

​Fr. John and I, and all of us in the parish, are looking forward to
celebrating with you, as we see another generation of children begin to
enjoy the wonderful privilege this is ours, in celebrating the sacraments of God's love.  I pray God's blessing on you, and on your child, as we seek to work together to ensure their very best readiness for this next step in their life of faith.
Yours in Christ,
Father Enda Cunningham, Parish Priest

Please register with the parish your intention that your child will be receiving the sacrament by completing the appropriate form below:
​First Communion preparation for 2026 (usually 2nd class):
​First Communion preparation for 2027 (usually 1st class):
Confirmation preparation for 2026 (usually 6th class):
​Confirmation preparation for 2027 (usually 5th class):

​*Information Sessions*

The introductory meeting is for all parents of children who will receive their sacraments in 2026.  The meetings will take place in the church.
Parents are welcome to bring their child(ren) if you wish or need to, although the meeting will be aimed specifically at parents.
*First Communion Recipients 2026:
Tuesday 23rd September 2025, 7 pm
​
*Confirmation Recipients 2026:
Wednesday 24th September 2025, 7 pm

Introduction to Centering Prayer​​

Are you interested in deepening your relationship with God?
Come and learn this beautiful day of silent prayer.
Tuesdays from 14th October at  7pm to 9pm.  5 following Tuesdays from 7pm to 8:15pm.
All sessions will be held at The Parish Centre, Church of Guardian Angels, Newtown Park Avenue, Blackrock.
For more information contact: Laura at 087 2776932 or email [email protected]

Explorers​

Explorers will begin again starting in September.  We will be studying the Nicene creed with our friend, Dr. Ciaran O’Mahoney.
The first of 4 monthly talks by Dr. Kieran O’Mahony was held on Monday 8th September in the Hall at Christ Church on Sandymount Green, attended by about 20 people from each of the Christian congregations in the Sandymount and beyond.  We heard that it was thanks to Emperor Constantine, who was fed up with the squabbles among the Eastern Christians, that our faith was first crystallised at a meeting called by him at Nicea in 321 AD by hundreds of delegates, in teams led by bishops, where they thrashed out their differences.   It went on for about 6 weeks with Constantine footing the bill.  The nub of the argument was whether the 3 persons of the Holy Trinity were equally divine, or in a hierarchy of divinity with God the Father at the top.  Equality of divinity won out and the final conference document was the Nicene Creed, which is pretty close to the version we are familiar with today.  The first talk dealt with the influence of St. Paul’s teachings in reaching this outcome.
​
The dates are as follows:
Monday 8th September
Monday 20th October
Monday 17th November
Monday 8th December
All will be at 7:30pm in Christ Church, Sandymount Hall​

Ringsend and Irishtown Community Centre Piano Plea

​RICC would like to start up a singing Group but needs a piano to provide the necessary accompaniment.  It is appealing to anybody who might have a piano which has fallen into disuse, to consider donating it to the RICC, giving it a new lease of life and providing an opportunity for joy for many.  Please contact Loraine Barry, Manager RICC on 668 4789

November List of The Dead​

​Forms and envelopes will be available from this weekend for inclusion of names in the November List of The Dead.  These lists are retained throughout the following ecclesiastical year and Mass is offered for these intentions on each First Friday.  The annual Mass for those who died in our Parish during the past year will be offered on Sunday 2nd November at 12 p.m.

Lectio Divina 2025

Lectio Divina will commence weekly on Tuesday, 2nd September 2025, from 6:30 to 7:30pm in the Parish Meeting Rooms. Access from the steps at the back.

Your Parishioner Voice-Thank You!​

​Sincere thanks to our parishioners who participated in our Parish Voice gathering on Sunday, 9th March.  We appreciate your feedback on how best we can strengthen the experience of being a parishioner of St. Mary’s Star of the Sea.  Your feedback will help us shape the Parish in the coming years.
​Click on the Button Below to see the Parishioner Voice Summary

ANNOUNCEMENT OF FIRST DIOCESAN PASTORAL COUNCIL

​The members of the first Dublin Diocesan Pastoral Council will be commissioned at Mass in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral this Sunday, May 18, in completion of a synodal process commenced in March 2024 to bring together a Council which reflects “the entire people of God with the good of the whole Diocese in mind”.  At each of the four stages of the process the groups entrusted with the discernment were made up of both laity and clergy.
Those to be commissioned as members of the Diocesan Pastoral Council are:
 
Ms Áine Nolan (West Dublin)
Ms Bruna Frota Mourao (City Centre)
Ms Catherine Hennessy (North Dublin)
Monsignor Ciarán O’Carroll (South Dublin)
Archbishop Dermot Farrell
Bishop Donal Roche
Deacon Eamonn Murray (North Dublin)
Father Gareth Byrne (North Dublin)
Ms Geraldine Tallon (Wicklow)
Mr Kevin Mullally (Southwest Dublin)
Canon Liam Rigney (Kildare)
Sister Liz Byrne (West Dublin)
Ms Maeve Davidson (South Dublin)
Ms Orla McCarthy (South Dublin)
Ms Orla O’Grady Walshe (South Dublin)
Ms Patricia Carroll (North Dublin)
Father Paul Thornton (North Dublin)
Bishop Paul Dempsey
Father Richard Sheehy (North & West Dublin)
Mr Seán Feeney (North Dublin)
Ms Sheila Keegan Groome (City Centre)
Ms Thérèse O’Mahony (West Dublin)

Sandymount Community Centre

COMMUNITY CENTRE MAP
​Home from Home
Sandymount Community Centre, formally the Irish Charles Centre, on Newbridge Ave is very excited to announce their new Home from Home initiative. Every Thursday from 10-12 the centre will be open to the community offering a warm cuppa, newspapers, cards and games as well as loads of chats!

Parish Collections
​​​Welcome to St. Mary's Star of the Sea, Sandymount

A warm welcome to the website of St Mary’s, Star of the Sea Parish, Sandymount. 

Our parish was constituted in 1876 to meet the needs of a growing population in Sandymount – Irishtown. The foundation stone of a new church was laid in  August 1851 and the church was officially opened. Designed by J.J. McCarthy, of the Pugin neo-Gothic school, Star of the Sea has served the people well in Sandymount and Irishtown over the years and they in turn have looked after it in its beauty and prayerful atmosphere. 

The gatherings for the liturgy are creative of a community in touch with God and with each other. 

We hope you’ll find our website interesting and helpful. Don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of any further assistance to you. 
​
Yours sincerely,
Fr. John Mc Donagh 

 Mass Schedule 

Weekly Mass:
For the week commencing 7th April,2024, and until further notice we will have one Mass per day. 
7.30am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday
10am on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
Weekend Mass:
Saturday: 6pm
Sunday: 10:30am, 12 Noon
Please note that the Church will close after the 7.30 a.m. Mass next Friday, 29th August, for the carrying out of necessary maintenance.  Regular Masses will resume on Satruday, 30th August, 10am and 6pm.

Parish Office Opening Days 

The volunteer team which currently staffs the Parish Office, will continue to provide service on three mornings per week from 9.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. for the foreseeable future but with a change of days.  From this week forward, the office will open on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  Messages can be left by voicemail or email and urgent calls can be made directly to Fr. Enda Cunningham, PP.

Cuppa after 12pm Mass- 1st Sunday of the Month

Please join us for a cuppa after the Sunday 12pm Mass on the First Sunday of the Month. We gather in the back of the Church.  All are welcome!
Click on the blue buttons below for more information

Child Safeguarding Newsletter August 2025

The Jubilee Prayer 

 Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
reawaken in us the blessed hope
for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation
of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee
reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope,
a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread
the joy and peace of our Redeemer
throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever.
Amen<

Synod Prayer​

​We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather in Your name.
with You alone to guide us,
make Yourself at home in our hearts;
 Teach us the way we must go
 and how we are to pursue it.
We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder.
Do not let ignorance lead us
 down the wrong path nor partiality
 influence our actions.
Let us find in You our unity
 so that we may journey together
 to eternal life and not stray from
 the way of truth and what is right.
All we ask of You,
who are at work in every place and time,
 in the communion of the Father and the Son forever and ever. Amen

Reflections on our Christian Understanding of Hope 

What is Hope?
Hope is the power by which we firmly and constantly  long for what we were placed on earth to do :
to praise God and serve God
to find our fulfilment and true happiness in God.
 
Hope is trusting in what God has promised us
in creation
in the prophets
but especially in Jesus Christ
even though we do not yet see it.
 
Hope is directed,
it is humankind’s encourager,
it sustains us in times of abandonment,
it opens our heart to expect eternal life.
 
Hope energises us,
preserves us from selfishness
and  leads to the happiness that flows from charity. 

Archbishop Farrell in Nagasaki

Archbishop Farrell celebrated Mass in the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Nagasaki, Japan this past week and his homily has been shared with us and may be accessed at https://dublindiocese.ie/nagasaki-2025/  
Excerpt from the Homily...
“One cannot come to this place, this Cathedral, and the church of which it is the centre, without thinking of the horrific suffering that was inflicted on the people of this city when the atomic bomb was dropped here, on August 9th, 1945.  The events here, and in Hiroshima a few days before, were a tragedy that belie description, a horror that must never be repeated.....”
Immaculate Conception, Queen of Peace, pray for us.
Saint Paul Miki and companions, pray for us.
Saints of Nagasaki-known and unknown, pray for us.

Baptism Certificate Request​

Under our GDPR Policy a request for Baptism certs must be accompanied by a completed form either by the adult person requesting his or her own Baptism cert or by the parent requesting a son or daughter’s Baptism certificate.  Parents of children preparing for First Communion and for Confirmation will accordingly need to complete that form when seeking , as is required, their child’s certification of Baptism.  This applies to every parish in the Diocese.

​Updated Parish Privacy Statement