Sacristan Seán retires after 27 years

EARLIER this month, on Wednesday night, July 3, as dusk was descending on Mayo's famous Marian Shrine in Knock, local man Seán Naughton locked the doors of the church for the last time after almost 27 years of dedicated duty as head sacristan at the shrine, writes Mike Byrne.

As news of his retirement spread, countless were the tributes and messages of goodwill that were posted for Seán on social media by people from all walks of life who wanted to express their gratitude and acknowledge his outstanding contribution to the shrine since taking up duty in January 1993.

Seán, a native of Adrigoole, was a wonderful ambassador for the shrine through his gentleness, his quiet manner in dealing with the day to day affairs of the shrine, his great sense of dignity, and in particular his wonderful sense of humour.

Seán worked diligently and methodically behind the scenes at Knock in not only carrying out his duties as head sacristan but also in training new recruits to the sacristy. He made sure his own high degree of excellence and attention to detail was passed on to all who worked at the sacristy.

He had a wonderfully kind approach to the many visiting priests, bishops, cardinals, and indeed Pope (Francis), who came to Knock, not to mention all the pilgrims and pilgrim leaders who had business with the sacristy and ceremonies.

In many ways, Seán was the public face of Knock Shrine over the past two and a half decades. He took up duty when the late Monsignor Dominick Greally was parish priest and since then has been the most familiar face to parishioners and pilgrims.

A quiet and reserved gentleman, Seán was never one for the limelight and fanfare, but supervised everything quietly, always behind the scenes.

As one of his colleagues pointed out: “Sean strived on perfection. He was the quiet man, never in the public domain, but always and ever ready to go that extra mile, whether for a colleague or pilgrim.

“Time didn't matter to Seán, he was very accommodating. He was never in a hurry to lock up. If a group of people or pilgrims wished to linger on a while longer in the Apparition Chapel or in the church, Sean would quietly say ‘There's no hurry'.”

Fr. Richard Gibbons paid tribute to Seán: “As parish priest and Rector, I could completely depend on Seán in his work and that the attention to the details of ceremonies would be carried out. He had fantastic patience in dealing with many issues which would arise and would present solutions if there were problems.

“He will be missed very much by everyone at the shrine, but his legacy is in the safe hands of his friend and successor as head sacristan, Declan Elwood from Gorthaganny.

“I wish Sean many happy years with his family as he retires. Knowing Sean, it will be a very busy retirement.”