History
Our parish church dates from 1881 when St. Joseph's was built as a church of relief to St. Patrick's parish church. At that time St. Joseph's parish had not yet been created and the primary purpose of the church was to provide a local Sunday Mass for the people in the locality (the Northern end of St. Patrick's parish at that time). While the people of the parish did contribute to the funding of the church, the primary source of funds came from the personal wealth of the then parish priest of St. Patrick's, Canon George Sheehan.
Barry McMullen, architect and builder, was appointed to the project and the early French Gothic style with chancel, nave aisles and organ loft was to be guiding design. In line with good practice, locally sourced materials were to be preferred with red sandstone coming from Brickfield Quarry on the Lower Glanmire Road and limestone for the dressings on windows, buttresses and doors coming from Ballintemple Quarries.
Bishop Delaney, Bishop of Cork, dedicted St. Joseph's on the 6th October 1881. At that time, the local people had already formed the habit of attending mass at the SMA Fathers who, at that time, were located at Elmgrove House on the Ballyhooley Road.
In 1888 a priest's house was buily to accomodate the newly appointed curate to St. Joseph's, Fr. Thomas Fleming. Quickly the numbers of people attending at St. Joseph's increased substantially.
In 1981 Bishop Michael Murphy, Bishop of Cork and Ross, created the parish of St. Joseph's and appointed Fr. Florence Flynn as first Parish Priest. Bishop Murphy also appointed Canon Micheal O'Dalaigh as PP in 1990 while Bishop Buckley appointed Canon John Paul Hegarty in 2001 to serve as Parish Priest. Fr. Christy Harrington was appointed by Bishop Buckley in 2011 as Parish Priest. Fr. Myles McSweeney served as priest in charge from 2013 until Sept 2021, when Fr. J. Criostoir MacDonald was appointed Parish Priest by Bishop Fintan Gavin.
St. Joseph's church is adorned by many wonderfully rich stained glass windows, the majority of which came from the studios of Watson's of Youghal. Two of the windows inside the front door are the work of Michael Healy, a member of 'An Tur Gloine', which was a co-operative of stained glass artists operating in Dublin in the early part of the 20th century.
Full list of Clergy who have served at Saint Joseph's Church.
| Name | Period |
|---|---|
| Monsignor G. Sheehan | 1881-1887 |
| Fr. Thomas Fleming C.C. | 1888-1901 |
| Fr. Thomas J. Tierney C.C. | 1898-1923 |
| Fr. W.F. McCarthy C.C. | 1899-1903 |
| Fr. John J. Ahern C.C. | 1903-1906 |
| Fr. Edward O'Flynn C.C. | 1908-1914 |
| Fr. Tim O'Connor C.C. | 1915-1923, 1935-1946 |
| Fr. Tim O'Leary C.C. | 1924-1928 |
| Fr. K. Barrett C.C. | 1925-1928 |
| Fr. T. Murphy C.C. | 1931-1933 |
| Fr. P.J. O'Sullivan C.C. | 1931-1939 |
| Fr. William Riordan C.C. | 1942-1946 |
| Fr. Arthur Stritch C.C. | 1947-1957 |
| Fr. John Murphy C.C. | 1945-1950 |
| Fr. P.J. O'Donovan C.C. | 1953-1957 |
| Fr. Thomas Lynch C.C. | 1950-1952 |
| Fr. John Forde C.C. | 1959-1964 |
| Fr. Daniel Burns C.C. | 1959-1962 |
| Fr. Seamus Murphy C.C. | 1964-1965 |
| Fr. Edward Fitzgerald C.C. | 1965-1970 |
| Fr. Michael O'Donovan C.C. | 1965-1966 |
| Fr. F.X. Wrenne C.C. | 1968-1970 |
| Fr. J.C. Walsh C.C. | 1971-1976 |
| Fr. John Galvin C.C. | 1971-1981 |
| Fr. Thomas Kelleher C.C. | 1977-1984 |
| Fr. Florence O'Flynn P.P. | 1981-1990 |
| Fr. Aidan O'Driscoll C.C. | 1982-1984 |
| Fr. Christopher Fitzgerald C.C. | 1983-1986 |
| Fr. Patrick McCarthy C.C. | 1985-1988 |
| Fr. Michael Nolan C.C. | 1986-1994 |
| Fr. John O'Donovan C.C. | 1988-1995 |
| Canon Micheal O'Dalaigh P.P. | 1990-2001 |
| Fr. Dan O'Connell C.C. | 1994-2001 |
| Canon. John Paul Hegarty P.P. | 2001-2011 |
| Fr. Alan O'Leary C.C. | 2001-2006 |
| Fr. Christy Harrington P.P. | 2011-2013 |
| Fr. Myles McSweeney Priest in charge. | 2013-2021 |
| Fr. J. Criostoir MacDonald P.P. | 2021-Present |
Pictures
