Billy Redmond is on a mission

Among the regular good community things our local stalwart Billy Redmond does is keep the church grounds tidy, writes Brian Byrne. It's maybe something not many notice, but they certainly would if the work wasn't done.

Well, in the course of his efforts recently, Billy happened on something he thought was long gone. More than four decades, gone, in fact. And now he's on a mission, to have it reinstated to where it was prior to Vatican II.

It's the pulpit, from which many of us of a certain age will remember hearing the reading of parish notices, Sunday sermons and even the hellfire-threatening Mission Week oratory from visiting specialists in that kind of thing.

In line with the general architecture of Kilcullen Parish Church, considered a really good example of architect JJ McCarthy's works, the pulpit really is a lovely example of its kind of church furniture. Billy remembers being quite exercised when the edifice, and the altar rails, were removed in the post-Vatican II reforms.

Finding it again has given his life an extra lift of purpose. He says it's in good condition, just needs some cleaning, new velvet on the top and a new timber floor. He has talked privately with a number of parishioners and got a positive response to the idea of reinstating it in the church. Now he's waiting on official feedback from the priests and, presumably, the Parish Pastoral Council, on his proposal.

You can read the full version of his thoughts on the matter in the next issue of The Bridge. In the meantime, as he glances from time to time at a photograph of his own wedding which clearly shows the pulpit and the altar rails, he hopes that — like everything in the circle of life — the pulpit's time might come again.