On this Solemnity (Pentecost Sunday) 90 years ago – 1908 – the bell in the spire of Holy Rosary Church, Midleton, was rung for the first time. The translation of the Latin inscription on the bell is:
I am named Dominic
Herald of the Rosary of Mary
I first rang out
On Pentecost Sunday 1908
Parish Priest, Venerable Archdeacon Hutch, ordered the bell from Matthew O’Byrne of Fountain Head Bell Foundry in Dublin. The cost of the bell was £392. O’Byrne promised to “turn you out a bell that you won’t beat in Europe”. The bell was named after St Dominic (b. 1170 in Spain, d. 1221) because the spread of the Holy Rosary is attributed to the preaching of Dominic. Two stained glass windows in the church also feature St Dominic: (i) the circular window high over the Rosary Mysteries – Our Lady handing the saint a rosary beads and (ii) at the far right hand side of the altar – rails there is a “trio” of saints: Bernard, Ignatius and Dominic.
After receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the apostles went out and proclaimed the Gospel to the world. So too, our Church bell – Dominic – continues to send out the same message and calls people to turn to God in prayer.