Limerick honours trio with freedom of city
Two Limerick born brothers who founded the Irish charity Concern have been honoured with the freedom of their native city, along with renowned broadcaster of traditional Irish music.
The Freedom of Limerick was this afternoon conferred on Holy Ghost priests Aengus and Jack Finucane and RTE broadcaster Ciaran MacMathuna at a special ceremony in City Hall yesterday.
Fr Aengus and Fr Jack Finucane were hailed across the world for their work with Concern, which they founded during the early stages of the Biafran War.
Concern today has a staff of 3,293, an annual budget of €99m and is working in 30 countries across the globe.
Speaking at the ceremonies in City Hall, the Mayor of Limerick, Cllr Michael Hourigan, said the Finucane brothers had brought credit to their native city through their contribution to the common good throughout the world.
“The Finucane brothers have spent their lives relieving the suffering of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people during major humanitarian disasters. We can only stand in admiration of the value and importance of their work,” he said.
Ciaran MacMathuna, now approaching his 80th birthday, is a legendary figure in Irish music and broadcasting. He joined the staff of RTE as a producer/presenter of programmes of Irish traditional music in 1954 and is still broadcasting.
Many listeners still recall some of the early programmes such as “Ceolta Tire”, “A Job of Journeywork” and “The Humours of Donnybrook”. His Sunday morning programme “Mo Cheol Thu” started in the 1960s and is still running on RTE Radio One and attracting a large and devoted audience.
The ceremony in City Hall was attended by civic leaders, former mayors, a number of Freemen of Limerick, the City Manager Tom Mackey, members of the City Council and the families of the new Freemen.
Previous recipients of the Freedom of Limerick include Charles Stuart Parnell, John F Kennedy, Maude Gonne and Pope John Paul II. 59 people in all have received the honour to date.
