15/07/2026
The Last Mass - St Augustine’s Church
I’m not a churchgoer, but I spent Sunday afternoon at St Augustine’s for its final Mass on behalf of Irish Examiner , and it was hard not to be struck by the sheer number of people there.
An estimated 2,000 people packed the church. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve seen a church as packed, even in the Vatican when the Pope is saying it.
There were plenty of people there out of curiosity, myself included, but there were also people who had travelled from all over the country to say goodbye to a place that meant a great deal to them.
For 750 years, St Augustine’s has been part of the fabric of Cork. It’s where people got married, buried loved ones, celebrated milestones and found comfort when life wasn’t going to plan.
A lot of the people I spoke to were older and you got the sense that this wasn’t just a church closing. For many, it really was a second home.
Nobody knows yet what will become of the building. There was some suggestion that discussions are ongoing and, hopefully, the bulldozers won’t be arriving anytime soon. But with congregations getting smaller and fewer priests available, it seems this was a decision that couldn’t be avoided.
However regardless of your views on religion, it was a sad day for a lot of people. And as I left, I couldn’t help but think that Cork is slowly saying goodbye to another piece of its heritage.
