By Sean Moriarty

For the first time ever the Friars have taken over a vacant store in Killarney Outlet Centre.

Instead of passing on their Christmas message on the town’s streets like other years, they are inviting locals to receive a blessing in the shopping centre.

The Brothers are a familiar sight on the streets of Killarney every Christmas as they walk the town to meet and greet their parishioners ahead of the Holy Season.

This year, forced by COVID-19 restrictions, storms and other reasons, instead of mingling with Christmas shoppers on the town’s streets, the Friars have gone indoors.

“What we're doing in the Outlet Centre is about going out into the highways and byways, into the shopping centres, into the streets, and just meeting people, befriending people and learning from them. We have much more to gain from meeting people outside the Friary than what they gain from meeting us,” Brother Pat Lynch told the Killarney Advertiser.

The move to the Outlet Centre was made possible by the Outlet Centre’s Paul Sherry and Noreen O’Sullivan.

Brother Pat has a lot of experience of this type of ministry.

He was Vocations Director for the order for 15 years and had stands at the Ploughing Championships over many years in shopping centres in Cork, Athlone and Galway.

“In those places the aim was looking for vocations but in the Outlet Centre it is just about being present among the people. He is distributing prayers for the family and for the care of creation. It's a 'money free zone' and he has insisted he doesn't want any money as people have too many expenses at this time leading up to Christmas,” added Anne Marie O’Leary of the Friary Office.