‘A priest just rang asking to say Mass in our pub’: Irish bar becomes makeshift church following emergency request

The owners of an Irish pub in Luxembourg said they initially thought a priest’s emergency plea to use their bar to say mass was a prank call.

Irish Redemptorist priest Fr Michael Cusack set up his altar, near a Hop House Lager 13 sign, in the pub for two weeks to say mass after his church was closed for renovations

But bar owners Vincent and Adrienne Clarke first believed the telephone call from Fr Michael, who they never before met, asking to say mass in their pub until alternative accommodation could be found, was a hoax.

The native Galwegian said mass on two Sundays at the end of January, in the pub to 250 of his congregation while a further 250 joined in the service online

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Fr Michael reached out to his fellow expats Vincent and Adrienne Clarke after he was left with nowhere to go when his church was closed for lengthy renovations, which could take up to six years to complete.

“I am living in a Redemptorist Monastery but the church has been closed for renovations by the State. At the moment there are archaeologists in there trying to discover if there are any city walls under the church and these explorations have to be carried out before works can begin as it is a very old building

“So the closure meant that we were displaced. Our grouping of English speaking Catholics are up to 1,000 people in number.

“We spent two weekends in an Irish pub, thanks to Vincent and Adrienne Clarke who thankfully opened their doors to me and our community. We had mass there for two Sundays and then, I think that was enough to shame the Diocese into trying to find a new place for us,” he told LMFM Radio’s Late Lunch.

“I didn’t turn water into wine as such for the bar but they are usually closed on a Sunday so we decided since it was our final day that we would have the bar open afterwards and we had a lovely celebration.

Fr Michael said that the Redemptorists have the largest group of worshipping Catholics in Luxembourg and numbers are “growing all the time”.

“There are so many expats here that there is a great sort of togetherness. I have great friends across all religions, all nationalities and all genders and there are no dividing lines here.”

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Owners of ‘The Irish Bar’, Vincent and Adrienne Clarke said they were glad to be able to help out.

The couple, originally from Sligo and Louth, renovated an 800 sq.m warehouse into a pub, restaurant and whiskey shop in 2016 and are often the first point of call for any Irish moving to Luxembourg.

“The pub is very lively. We have eight dart boards where the Luxembourg darts team play as well as many karaoke nights and live music so this request left us, at first, questioning if it was true,” said Adrienne at the weekend.

“We were actually away on holidays when I got a phone call from Fr Michael saying that his church was being renovated and he urgently needed a premises to say mass

“He had heard that we had a very large space with loads of parking and asked if we would consider opening our pub on Sunday to welcome his parishioners.

“I initially thought this has to be a scam. I said to Vincent, you won’t believe it but an Irish priest has just rang asking to say mass in our pub! Vincent fell around the place laughing and then said, no, seriously, who was on the phone?

“When we found out that the call was, indeed, real, we didn’t hesitate to help out.

“Fr Michael arrived with his congregation and musicians and it was such a success, we agreed to host another mass which was followed by an Irish session. He got sorted with a church afterwards but he knows we are here if he ever needs us again.”

“I think we can safely say we were all in good spirits!” she added