Rev. Fr. Oliver Crilly PP and the team in Greenlough Parish, Co. Derry went live with their new website in April 2013. 

It will be a useful website for parishioners and also visitors to keep up to date with what’s happening in the parish.  And for all parish and community groups, it will be a useful resource for getting information out to people.

Tamlaght O’Crilly Greenlough Parish is a rural parish with one church and two primary schools, with the parishes of Lavey, Bellaghy and also Portglenone neighbouring it.

Very Rev. William Walsh (P.P.) and Very Rev. Thomas J. Ryan (C.C.) are delighted to announce that the Our Lady of the Rosary Parish, situated in the diocese of Limerick on the Ennis Road, has a new website which went live at the end of March 2013.

The website is the ideal place to keep parishioners and visitors alike up to date with what’s happening in the parish. As well as showing mass times in the Our Lady of the Rosary Parish church, and churches in the Cluster Parishes and Limerick City Parishes, information on upcoming events, parish and community groups amongst other things can also be found on the new website.

St. Aidan’s Cathedral, Enniscorthy launched their website at the end of March 2013.

Fr. Billy Swan C.C. and the parish team in Enniscorthy Parish & St. Aidan’s Cathedral, Ferns Diocese have great expectation and hope that their newly designed website will be of great assistance in communicating information with and for their parishioners and the surrounding community.

Shannon Parish Priest Fr. Tom Ryan, welcoming the development said; “This is an exciting development for our Parish Community. It allows those who are unable to be physically present to continue to participate in the life of our faith community. Those who were once an integral part of our life of prayer but are now prevented from doing so because of sickness or old age can continue to connect with us in a meaningful way. I am also mindful of our growing emigrant population who can through the use of modern technology stay connected to their roots and join in family celebrations from distant parts of the world.”

The technology has been installed and maintained by Ennis based company Acton BV. Speaking about the launch of the Shannon Webcam, Acton BV Director Michael Byrne said; “Shannon Parish has been one of the great success stories of the Information age when it comes to Parish websites. Since we started working with the Shannon Parish Council 4 years ago they have developed a vibrant ministry in cyberspace. Their parish website is one of the most successful in the country receiving almost 50,000 visitors a month. They are active on Facebook and Twitter and the installation of the webcam was the next logical step. We are delighted at the reception and usage of the webcam during the trial period and see it as a model for other parishes to follow”

The webcam can be accessed through the Shannon Parish Website at www.shannonparish.ie. Mass is broadcast each weekday evening at 7.00pm, on Saturdays at 6.30pm and on Sundays at 10.00am and 12.15pm. Other liturgies such as weddings, funerals and the Annual Matt Talbot Novena will also stream live on the web throughout the year.

The two large parishes of St. Peter ‘s and St. Paul’s have come together to provide a new website for parishioners and visitors.

The website includes live web streaming from both churches and the services have really been appreciated by the housebound and those who want to attend funerals and other liturgical celebrations remotely.

Monsignor Aidan Hamill, Parish Priest, was particularly keen to highlight the beauty and elegance of the recently refurbished St. Peter’s church.  A panoramic virtual tour affords an opportunity to get a hint of the beauty of the church, the craftsmanship and careful work of all involved in the project.

The website was launched in Holy week and is now being visited by a large number of people.

Parish Text has become a big hit with Parishes.  Built with Parishes and Church organisations in mind, Parish Text makes keeping in contact with parish groups and parishioners easy.

You can organise your Parish contacts and groups according to your needs and send messages to notify people of upcoming events and meetings quickly and conveniently.
Many parishes throughout the country are already using this simple, easy and low cost way to communicate.

SMS Text Messaging for Parishes made easy.

The main driver for the parish to install the cameras was to allow the housebound in the parish to join the worshipping community. The initial reactions have been very positive and the parish is confident that the service provided by www.parishwebsites.ie will be well worthwhile.

Mass times in Askea Parish are currently:

Saturday: 7 pm
Sunday: 9 am; 10:30 am and 12:00 noon.

Monday – Friday: 9:30a.m.

Holy Days: Vigil – 7 pm
Holy Day – 9 am and 10.30 am

Check www.askeaparish.ie for updates

The parish website had already become very popular with parishioners, the diaspora and visitors to Salthill. The potential to allow people in far flung places to join the worshipping community particularly for occasions like weddings and funerals was compelling enough to provide a camera and easy access through the website. People can access the service on a computer ( PC, Mac or any other type of desktop device) and now importantly on a mobile phone or tablet.

Mass times in Salthill Parish:
Monday-Friday: 10.00am and 7.30pm
Saturday: 10.00am; Vigil Mass 5.30pm
Sunday: 9.30am; 11.00am; 12.30pm; 6.00pm

Good Shepherd Parish, Churchtown, have recently launched a new Parish Website. Their previous website had served them well, but Fr. Dermot Nestor and his parish team knew it was time to update and modernise this much used communications medium. The Communications Committee of the Pastoral Council did extensive research to ensure that they would get the best possible website for the needs of their large Dublin Parish. Having consulted widely, they appointed parishwebsites.ie to design and supply their new website. The result is a clear, crisp, welcoming design which enables the parish to promote its news and events, and to showcase video of the proposed re-ordering of their Parish Church.

Fr. Dermot and his team are delighted with the freshness and usability of their new site, and hope that it will enable them to reach out to their parish community and beyond. We wish them every success for the future.

You can see the new website at the address www.goodshepherdchurchtown.ie

(Summary of article on www.ossory.ie, thanks to Ossory Adult Faith Development Group staff)

Parishwebsites.ie is proud to feature our first customer in the USA.

The parish of St. Thomas Aquinas, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, has just launched its new website www.stthomas-usm.org, which has been specially designed and built by Parishwebsites.ie.

Located in the Catholic diocese of Biloxi, the parish serves over 600 families as well as the University of Southern Mississippi.

Parish Priest, Fr. Tommy Conway, hails from Newbridge in East Galway where he grew up with his 12 siblings. He studied at St. Patrick’s College, Carlow before moving to the diocese of Biloxi.

Now, in the 25^th year of his ministry, he gets back to Galway for a break most years.

He has embraced many of the ways of his new home, not least his passion for racquetball and following the university’s American football team. Serving a community with so many young people has also made him conscious of the need to communicate in modern ways,

“We have a very diverse and vibrant parish community. There is so much going on that it is often hard to capture it in one place. The new website does that. It keeps information up-to-date and it reaches all corners of our ministry, especially our youth and young adult members who are so important in helping to shape the spiritual landscape of the next generation.”

At Parishwebsites.ie, we were delighted to build the site for St. Thomas Aquinas parish. It challenged us but also proved to us how universal our model is. Church structures and services may be different in the USA but our tools for building and maintaining websites ensure that every parish, diocese or religious order can get the website it needs and which reflects its individual characteristics.

You can visit Fr. Tommy and his parish at www.stthomas-usm.org

Createtext.ie - Bulk Texting made easy

Another technology proving to be a hit with parishes is our Createtext.ie SMS service. It is the cheapest and easiest way to send bulk text messages in the country.

Costing less than 4c per message, this allows you to conveniently notify people of upcoming events or duty rosters. Mass readers, Eucharistic Ministers or an entire weekend team can be set up together and details entered via phone or PC.

Text messages can also be scheduled to send out roster reminders. This can also work for meetings of the Parish Council or other groups.

Parish administrator, Fr Tom Hoan and Michael Byrne of parishwebsites.ie took on this challenge in mid 2009. At this stage, Ennis had been running a website for a long time but parish personnel wanted to reach more people with the site and use it in more effective ways.

Fr. Tom sums up the feeling at the time, “Our site was not fit for the purpose we intended and we were also pretty overwhelmed by the job of maintaining and updating it. Michael scoped out our needs and this got our thinking back on track.”

Parishwebsites.ie built a site based on these discussions.

“We are now getting around 5,000 unique visits each month compared to 300 previously.”

Fr. Tom believes that, as a priest, the new site has helped him greatly in his ministry.

Parishes across the county are embracing the information age with new websites coming online on a weekly basis.

Priests and local commnuites are benifiting from easy-to-use content management systems that allow them to communicate quickly and effectively with parishioners as well as those further afield. As Fr. Tom Ryan says of the Shannon parish website, ” We had many reasons to hesitate before entering the online world. Now it has become another part of parish life and how we communicate as a community. The mystery is gone, there is no downside and more people than ever are involved.”

While websites fulfil a myriad of functions, the most popular content is local information e.g. Mass times, death notices and contact details.

Pictures and virtual tours help to promote churches while a webcam can bring funeral masses to friends and relatives accross the globe.

Of course, many parishes just require a relatively simple website – a no-frills solution!

The County Wicklow parish of Baltinglass, Stratford on Slaney and Grange Con have recently upgraded their parish website with a new-look design and layout.The priests of the parish, Pastoral Council and Parish Office staff are delighted with their new website, seeing it as a great means of communication with parishioners and Baltinglass people throughout the world. They are more than impressed that they can enter notices and other material so easily and without any hassle. The simplicity of the site encourages them to update it regularly with new information.

Not only did Baltinglass parish get a new web design, but a new enthusiasm to promote Christianity in this digital age.

Naas Parish, County Kildare have a unique but growing reality of parish clustering.  The Parish Priest of Naas is also the Parish Priest of the adjoining, Sallins and Two-Mile-House Parishes. All three parishes are served by the same parish team while all three maintain their individual identity and structure.

When it came to designing a new parish website is was important that each parish would have ownership of the site and be able to identify and promote their own community groups and parish ministries. It was also important to have one website as opposed to three so as to avoid trebling the workload and extra expense.

The new website looks and works really well and it is a fantastic means of communication in a large urban area and sprawling countryside.

“It is our hope that our website will contribute to uniting all who live here and help to build up community, so that people will be fulfilled in their own lives and families, and be willing to share their time and talents for the benefit of their neighbour, parish and community” naasparish.ie

Tullow in County Carlow have opted for a new, modern and user friendly website from Parish Websites.ie.

Tullow is blessed with a tradition of encouraging faith and education with both the Brigidine Sisters and the Patrician Brothers founded there by Bishop Daniel Delaney.

Monsignor Brendan Byrne and Fr. Andy Leahy are very much aware of the importance of modern technological communication in reaching out to today’s generation.  Their new website is another tool in communicating with parishioners and maintaining a world wide link to all who are connected to Tullow through the Brigidine and Patrician families.

“While we look to the past with pride and to the present with some surprise, let us look to the future with confident hope that we will build upon what is best from the past to ensure a future worthy of our great traditions”. tullowparish.ie

Adding a Virtual Tour to your site is now easier than ever. A new service offering from Parishwebsites.ie has been launched to create and add a Virtual Tour to your parish website. The high quality presentations have been added to the Portlaoise Parish website who wanted to have virtual tours of their Parish Church and Parish Centre.  The Virtual Tour of the Parish Centre is especially attractive to them, as organisations looking to rent out rooms in the centre can see what facilities and space are on offer.

See the tours at www.portlaoiseparish.ie/virtual-tours/

Every website designed by ParishWebsites.ie, includes a map of parish locations as standard.  The map highlights churches, schools, parish centres, funeral homes and cemeteries.The map can be invaluable to new parishioners or to visitors who may be attending a funeral or a wedding.  The map format is very attractive and is designed to be user friendly.

Our latest parish to go live with their new website is the north Kildare parish of Balyna. Balyna Parish is a rural parish with three churches and four schools.Since appointed parish priest, Fr. Gerard Breen has endeavoured to build a parish team to administer, serve and develop the parish. The Parish Catechist and Parish Administrator work together with Fr. Ger in leading and encouraging the Pastoral Council and all other parish and community ministries.

The parish team hope that their newly designed website will be of great assistance in communicating information with and for their parishioners.