The Father O’Mahony Memorial Trust was set up in 1994 following the death of the then parish priest Fr .Patrick O’Mahony in 1991.

Fr. O’Mahony had a motto – “Need not Creed”. He taught us that all people are equal in God’s eyes and we should strive in any way we can to help those less privileged than ourselves under the ethos of the four freedoms  –

• Freedom from hunger:
• Freedom from disease:
• Freedom from illiteracy:
• Freedom of conscience

He began in 1968 by contacting and working with Major Gardiner, a retired army officer who had dedicated his life to helping the starving and the sick in the slums of Calcutta operating a food run to 80 people on the streets and 250 underprivileged school children. This extended to a further 700 people at a Salvation Army centre.

At about the same time, following the abolition of the Friday abstinence law, Fr O’Mahony set up a scheme with the 1,300 strong parish members.  Up to £20 a week was donated by the ‘give something up on Friday scheme’ and this money was sent to Major Gardiner to help pay for food. This averaged  £1,200 a year and the work snowballed to collecting drugs and medicines, donated by medical companies, for the care of the sick.

For the rest of his life, Fr.O’Mahony and the parish of Our Lady of the Wayside continued to help causes both at home and across the world until his death in 1991. His work lives on today in the Memorial Trust set up by the parish in 1994.

We are a registered charity and continue to focus on smaller projects which mainly fall outside the work of the larger charities. We send monetary support to projects across the world, from Sr. Sylvia who works with the Indians in Bolivia:  Dr Ray Towey, who works in a Mission hospital in Uganda:  A refugee centre in South Sudan and a wide variety of smaller projects. Also, on many occasions The Trust adds support to the work of CAFOD by sending help to those in poor areas of the world who are trying to set up working projects to help themselves. This usually means helping with transport costs to deliver sewing machines, books, hand tools or computers.

Support for the Trust has always been strong in the parish. The Trust donation boxes still stand at the back of the church and larger amounts can be placed in an envelope, labelled  TRUST and either handed in or put through letter box at the presbytery. We do also operate a gift aid scheme for ‘one-off’ or regular payments.

If you would like any further information on the Trust, please contact Maureen Jennings, email: mjfomt@gmail.com or Fr. Andrew