Each year people from across the Diocese of Cork and Ross gather at Gougane Barra to honour St Finbarr one of the Patrons of our Diocese

This year, Gougane Sunday takes place on:

Sunday 27 September

For more than 1,400 years Gougane Barra has been a place of prayer and pilgrimage, associated with St Finbarr and the beginnings of the Christian story in Cork.

Today it continues to be a special place where people come to pray, to give thanks and to seek God’s blessing.

Bishop Fintan Gavin invites people from parishes and faith communities throughout the Diocese to join together for this annual diocesan Mass and pilgrimage.

• 1:30pm: Confessions
• 2:30pm: Rosary
• 3:00pm: Mass
  celebrated by Bishop Fintan Gavin

Everyone is welcome to join us at Gougane Barra as we honour St Finbarr and pray together for our Diocese, our families, our parishes and faith communities, and for the pastoral year ahead.

All are welcome

Gougane Barra Sunday 2026

Now in its third year, Maranatha is an annual celebration of music, faith and young people in the Diocese of Cork and Ross.

At the launch, teachers from post-primary schools across the diocese took part in a workshop featuring the music that will be part of the Maranatha 2027 programme.

Students from Christ King Secondary School, who have taken part in Maranatha over the past two years, gave teachers a taster of some of the songs during the workshop.

The official Maranatha 2027 playlist is now available on Spotify: Maranatha 2027 on Spotify

Maranatha 2027 will take place on Thursday, 28 January 2027, in Cork City Hall. Up to 500 students will gather for a full day of activities, including catechesis and music, leading up to the concert that evening.

Students from Christ King Secondary School with Bishop Fintan

Bishop Fintan with the altar servers and priests in St Patrick's Cathedral Skibbereen

Bishop Fintan Gavin celebrated two Masses this week for Catholic primary schools across the Diocese of Cork and Ross - at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Skibbereen on Monday 14 September and at the Cathedral of St Mary and St Anne, Cork on Tuesday 15 September.

The joyful celebrations brought together principals, teachers, SNAs, members of Boards of Management and others who support Catholic primary education across the diocese, to pray for God’s blessing on the new school year.

This year’s theme, taken from the Vision for Catholic Education, was Invites. In his homily, the Bishop reflected on how the Catholic school invites every child to know that they are loved by God, emphasising that “each child has dignity; each child with their unique gifts has a purpose.”

UCC Chaplaincy and Ardens Missionaries with Bishop Fintan

For the past three years, FOCUS missionaries have successfully worked alongside UCC Chaplaincy to encourage third level students to begin an encounter with Christ and to accompany them in their journey of faith while at university.

While FOCUS have decided to end their European mission, a new entity 'Ardens' have taken on the task to continue, in a new way, the mission to third level colleges in Europe and have begun their missionary activity in UCC for the new academic year.

In preparation for this, the UCC chaplaincy team and the new Ardens team spent some days in planning, orientation and prayer at Mardyke House. The days were facilitated by Br Martin Kenneally.

The Diocese of Cork and Ross is planning a pilgrimage for young adults (18-30) to World Youth Day 2027 in South Korea, from late July to early August 2027.

This will be a journey of faith and prayer, giving young adults the opportunity to deepen their relationship with Christ, and be part of one of the largest gatherings of young people in the Catholic Church. We hope it will be a unique opportunity for our young people to deepen their faith through prayer, worship and fellowship, and to experience the universality of the Church as they gather with young Catholics from every continent.

An Information Evening will be held on:

Wednesday, 16 September at 7pm

in Mardyke House, Cork (T12 W8RP)

We encourage all interested young adults to attend to learn more about the pilgrimage, the programme, costs, fundraising opportunities, and the application process.

To register, email youthministry@corkandross.org.