A large wooden cross was blessed and placed in position on the site for the new Church on Sunday November 19, 1978 by the Parish Priest, Father Thomas Fehily, assisted by the two curates of the parish, Father Philip O’Driscoll and Father Gerry Doyle.
Here are some thoughts from Fr. Fehily’s homily on that day:
None of us who see the beginning of this work today will see its ending. For long after we have been called to our reward, our Church will still be the house of God and Gate of Heaven for countless generations that will come after us and live in Castleknock.
In 100 or 200 years time our names will be forgotten and no trace will remain of our passing but this church will testify to our faith and generosity, for without this it would not have been built. God will reward when all else will forget.
May the words spoken by God to Solomon for those who prayed in the Temple of Jerusalem be fulfilled in you. “My eyes shall be open and my ears attentive to the prayers of him that shall pray in this place. For I have chosen and have sanctified this place, that my name may be there forever and my eyes and my head may remain there perpetually.”