Loughshore Parishes
"at the heart of your community"

Welcome

Welcome to the website for the Loughshore Parishes.

This is a group of three parishes that came together in 2009:

St Mary’s Greencastle, Star of The Sea Whitehouse & St James’ Whiteabbey.

There are four churches in this group:

St Mary’s Greencastle, Star of The Sea Whitehouse, St James’ Whiteabbey & St Colman’s Greenisland

The links to the webcam for each of the churches is below:

 

 

 

St Mary’s Greencastle

St Mary, Star of the Sea, Whitehouse 

St James’, Whiteabbey

St Colman’s, Greenisland

Details for the Annual Parish Census this Weekend Saturday 27th & Sunday 28th April

A count of attendance will take place at all Masses across the Diocese on 27th and 28th April 2024.
The annual parish census captures valuable information about the numbers, ages, and gender of people attending Mass on this weekend.
This information helps the Diocese and parishes to identify pastoral priorities, make plans to address them, and deliver services to our faith communities.
When you arrive at Mass on the evening of 27th April or on the morning of 28th April, Parish volunteers will greet you at the entrance to the church and will explain what you have to do.
You will be given a small counter for yourself and for each person in your family group and will be asked to place the counters in baskets labelled according to age. There will be red counters for females and blue counters for males. The baskets will be labelled with age bands – 0 to 11 years; 12 to 18 years; 19 to 29 years; 30 to 39 years; and so on.
The number of counters for each age band will be recorded after each Mass.
Please share this information with members of the Parish who may not have access to Facebook or the Parish Website, ahead of the weekend.
We look forward to seeing you and thank you for your patience and co-operation.

Bingo at St James' hall

Saturday 27th April 2024

St James’ Hall at 7.30pm

Books £10

Tea and Coffee

Trócaire

Thank you to everyone who has already returned their Trocaire Box/Envelope.

It would be helpful if any outstanding boxes/envelopes were returned to the churches on or before the weekend of 27/28 April.

Bishop Alan McGuckian's Installation on 14th April 2024

The Installation of the Most Rev. Alan McGuckian SJ as Bishop of Down and Connor took place on Sunday 14th April at 3.00pm in the Cathedral.

The Mass was recorded and can be viewed by clicking on this link >>

 

National Pilgrimage for Life

Saturday 4th May 2024

Knock Shrine, County Mayo

Join the National Pilgrimage for Life to pray for the protection of all human life.

  • 2.30pm Anointing of the Sick
  • 3.00pm Mass
  • Rosary Procession after Mass

 

Lough Derg One Day Retreats in May

These guided days of prayer and reflection will take place on Sun 5th, Mon 6th, Sun 12th, Tue 14th, Sat 18th, Sat 25th, Mon 27th. More details can be found at www.loughderg.ie.

€45 per person , booking essential.

The Lough Derg traditional Three Day Pilgrimage begins on Friday May 31st and continues until August 15th.

Our social media accounts can be found at:

Facebook

www.facebook.com/loughderg

X (formerly Twitter)

www.x.com/lough_derg

Instagram

www.instagram.com/loughdergpilgrimage

AGE NI's Shared Lives Service

Our service is brand new and is for older people aged 65+ who would benefit from spending time outside their own home. Our aim is to reduce isolation and loneliness and maintain independence and social connection. Our carers are self-employed, use their own home as a base for the care and are paid an hourly rate for their role.

For more information, please click on this link >>

If interested in becoming a Shared Lives carer, please contact deborah.mcilwaine@ageni.org

Fostering Appeal

Could you open your heart and home to make a difference in a child’s life?

Come along to an information session and find out more.  Please click here for more details >>

Adoptive Parents Needed Urgently

Family Care Adoption Services is an Adoption Agency, and a core part of our work is to place children with new adoptive families. We provide adoption services throughout all Northern Ireland and work with Health and Social Care Trusts to place single children and sibling groups for adoption.

These children are aged from babyhood to approximately 5 years old.

There are currently more children waiting to be adopted in Northern Ireland than families approved to adopt and there is an urgent need for new families to come forward.

All sorts of people from all walks of life can be considered for adoption.

So, wherever you live in Northern Ireland if you think you could offer a child/ren a new life in a family of their own and would like an informal chat to discuss this and to find out more about adoption,

CONTACT US!

Email:           email@familycareadoption.org

Phone:          02890 691133

Website:       www.familycareadoption.com

We are waiting to hear from you!

A Day of Prayer and Fasting For Peace - 27 October

INVITATION OF THE HOLY FATHER TO

A DAY OF PRAYER AND FASTING FOR PEACE

(General Audience, 18th October 2023)

 

“Today too, dear brothers and sisters, our thoughts turn to Palestine and Israel. The number of victims is rising and the situation in Gaza is desperate. Please, let everything possible be done to avoid a humanitarian disaster. The possible widening of the conflict is disturbing, while so many war fronts are already open in the world. May weapons be silenced, and let us heed the cry for peace of the poor, the people, the children… Brothers and sisters, war does not solve any problem: it sows only death and destruction, foments hate, proliferates revenge. War cancels out the future, it cancels out the future. I urge believers to take just one side in this conflict: that of peace. But not in words – in prayer, with total dedication. With this in mind, I have decided to call for a day of fasting and prayer on Friday 27 October, a day of penance to which I invite sisters and brothers of the various Christian denominations, those belonging to other religions and all those who have at heart the cause of peace in the world, to join in as they see fit. That evening, at 18.00 at Saint Peter’s, we will spend an hour of prayer in a spirit of penance to implore peace in our time, peace in this world. I ask all the particular Churches to participate by arranging similar activities involving the People of God”.

Have you, or someone you know been bereaved by suicide?

The Northern Trust have designed a guide dedicated to those grieving the death of someone they love >> 

Local support groups and individual support sessions are available throughout the Northern Trust area to help you deal with a bereavement through suicide.

If you would like more information about a support group in your area, or to be referred to the individual support service, please
contact:

Danielle Gallagher
Bereaved by Suicide Service Officer
Holywell Hospital Site
60 Steeple Road
Antrim
BT41 2RJ
028 9441 3544
danielle.gallagher@northerntrust.hscni.net

David Olphert
Family Liason Officer
Holywell Hospital Site
60 Steeple Road
Antrim
BT41 2RJ
028 9441 3544
david.olphert@northerntrust.hscni.net

Our Mission...To unite all of the community.

We are a faith community gathered in this place called to create a sense of belonging and family with a shared identity and shared faith, We proclaim this faith in our coming together to worship and in our sharing love with others in service.

Schools

There are 3 schools in Loughshore Parishes.

  • St. Mary’s (Star of the Sea) Primary School
  • St. Mary’s Nursery School
  • St. James’ Primary School

Parish Groups

There are a number parish groups in Loughshore Parishes.