BISHOP MICHAEL GOES TO THE MART
Bishop Michael Burrows, Church of Ireland Bishop of Cashel, Ferns and Ossory visited Carlow Mart last Monday.
Carlow mart is located in the parish of Killeshin Union, one of the parishes in his diocese.
Rector of the parish, Canon Peter Tarleton, regularly visits the mart on a Monday and as the Bishop happened to be planning a visit to Killeshin parish that day he was told where the Rector could be found and that he was very welcome to call in if he wished!
Carlow Mart is a farmers’ co-operative managed by James Walsh.
“I regularly visit Carlow Mart on a Monday to connect with many of my parishioners,” says Canon Tarleton, “AND to see how much they are earning from the sale of their cattle!
As a meeting place particularly for men – some of whom live on their own in quite remote rural areas – Carlow Mart fulfils a role way beyond the commercial exchange of cattle and sheep.
It is a place of fellowship and communication, where the regulars share a sense of belonging with the animals they have nurtured.”
Canon Tarleton adds that he visits the mart as an interested human being and is welcomed into this fellowship where he is encouraged and supported in his wider social and ecumenical commitments.
“There is a hope, too, that one day I’ll bring my cheque book and enter fully into the Mart experience!” he says.
Bishop Burrows was impressed with his first visit.
“I went to the Mart as part of a parish day in Killeshin. The Mart is where you meet a wonderful cross – section of those who work on the land,” he says, “learn of their problems and of their joys and truly tune into the farming life which is so much the backbone of this diocese.”
The Mart ‘family’ made the Bishop very welcome, the Rector says.
“As well as providing him with a wonderful lunch they very kindly marked his visit with a generous presentation to diocesan Bishops’ Appeal projects – something we both very much appreciate.”