Our parish takes its name (Aghalurcher means ‘The Field of the Cast’) from the ancient legend involving St Ronan. Looking for a site for a church. It was agreed to cast a stone from a sling and build where the stone would fall. The remains of the church and the cemetery St Ronan founded on the site can still be visited today.

 

Our church community now gathers in St. Mary’s church in Maguiresbridge and Holy Cross church in Lisnaskea. The first place in the Lisnaskea area where Christians worshipped was at Aghalurcher where the ruins of the St. Ronan’s Church, dating back possibly as far as the seventh century, can still be found.

 

After the time of the Mass Rocks, Mass Gardens and Mass Islands, the Moate Church was built in the early 1800’s, eventually becoming the parish hall and, subsequently, the parish school.

 

The Church of St. Mary’s in Maguiresbridge was also built in the early part of the 1800’s, becoming the main parish church and indeed Maguiresbridge was the official name of the parish until it reverted to Aghalurcher in 1955.

 

Holy Cross Church was dedicated on Sunday, August 18th 1907, the feast of St. Helen, who is credited with the discovery of the True Cross in Jerusalem in the fourth century (although it had already been in use for regular services before this).

 

Both St. Mary’s and Holy Cross continue to serve as parish churches to this day, with both having been renovated in recent years.