After Belfast we headed to Portadown for a concert at St. John The Baptist Church, Drumcree Parish on the Garvaghy road. This is a significant area in recent Irish history as the Garvaghy road was the site of major disputes over an annual march by the Orange Order. These disputes a decade nearly derailed the peace process. Our sponsor in Portadown, Jerome, took us for a drive around town to show us the road, Drumcree Church (Church of Ireland) and some of the neighborhood divisions and Anti-Catholic graffiti that still exist today. My first trip to Ireland with John Michael was in 2003 after the peace process had really begun to take hold. The armed checkpoints at the border were gone and the military presence largely diminished (even more so now). So for me there is a ghostly quality to all the tales of the troubles. They are certainly a close memory for the Irish of the northern counties though.
Enda McClusker was again tapped to handle sound and lights for us in Portadown. Enda’s light man, Des, is a member at St. John The Baptist so he was on hand early in the day to get started. Enda as it turned out was a bit late having made a trip to the hospital after closing is thumbs in roadcase the night before. Ouch! Still, between Enda’s guys and myself we had the rig loaded in, set and measured in record time. The concert itself was a big success with the church wonderfully decorated with candles and light by Des and Francis (the sacristan at St. John. Another treat was meeting all the kids in the youth group who helped run the event along with Fr. Michael & Fr. Brian.
Saturday the 11th we remained in Portadown. Fr. Michael, Jerome & Fr. Brian took us on a little sightseeing trip. First down through Newry to the mountain overlooking Carlingford Lough, then in to the little village of Carlingford. Then after a typically Irish pub stop for soup and sandwiches it was back up to Newry, across the river and down to Rostrevor to visit the Benedictine Monks at Holy Cross Monastery. With the impending construction at Little Portion John Michael was quite excited to tour this new monastery.
With all that we still made it back up to Portadown for the Vigil Mass when John Michael sang Healer of My Soul as a communion meditation and later a nice dinner out with all our Portadown sponsors.
Next time, we’re off to Derry.
