“The morning was wonderful, quite moving at times and very insightful.”
“The discussion from the floor was so encouraging. Really moved by the story. Met some really impressive women today and had some lovely conversations.”
“I am SO glad I attended this morning, quite the best Women’s Day. It was riveting.”
Women’s Day in Kilian House Family Centre was a great success with standing room only.
The theme of the event was “Women of Faith – the wholeness of women”.
The main speaker Breda O’Brien Irish Times Columnist welcomed this event and was delighted to participate and deal with the subjects of intergenerational connections between women. ‘In one way it’s great to be a woman today, with all the opportunities that we know have. But in another way, the pressures on women have increased exponentially. It is great to be with a diverse group of women, discussing issues that matter to us and how faith can be a support to us in our many roles and multi-tasking,’ Breda said.
Other women who spoke on the day were Betsy Laffan, Anna Phalan, Joyce Lee and Sinead McDonald-Smyth.
Topics covered included were: different influences and demands in life: e.g. social political cultural and historical influences; how does faith shape you as a woman; life decisions in a fast-changing world and the future of faith.
Jim O’Keeffe, iconographer who lives in Newcastle, made a riveting presentation on a new icon that will be installed in St. Anthony’s Church, Kilcoole in May.
It was a great day for women from Goa, America, Europe and Asia along with a group of Ukrainian women who joined the celebrations and remembered the difficulties for their family and friends in Ukraine.
Evelyn Cawley who opened the proceedings welcomed the audience and highlighted the fact that three generations of women were represented at the event as Kathleen Kelleher, her daughter Kathleen and granddaughter Kate were also in attendance.
Local councillors, election candidates also showed their support for the event as well as a group of young women from St. David’s School. Evelyn also thanked the Parish Pastoral Council for their support and commitment to making it a success.
The overwhelming buzz was that a great morning was had by all!
See the below for a lovely selection of photographs.
