Welcome
to the
Saints Be Praised
Church of the Irish Penitent
Fr. Pat McCann, Rector
Fr. Phyran Brymstone, Vicar
Welcome to our Church! Please read every page on this site to see what all we have ro say! Learn more about us and our community than you ever wanted to know! Find out what we hold near and dear to our hearts! Then ask God to help you qualify to join us!
Who we are
Our congregation was originally formed by a bunch of Irishmen, Irish wannabees, Irish sympathizers, two Jews, and a few other hangers-on at O'Leary's Pub.
We are located in an out-of-the-way cul-de-sac in a semi-rural part of a large New Mexico city.
A while ago, on a cold winter's night, we were bemoaning the plight of those poor folks, Irish and non-Irish alike, who through lack of monetary means could not join us in our frequent toasts to our favorite Saints. We knew that the Baptist church building next to the pub was for sale cheap; the Baptists had long ago given up on proselytizing anyone in the neighborhood. One of our two Jewish drinking buddies, Abe Ancountor, bought the building on speculation, and in return would ultimately became the first paid employee of the new Church.
Initially, we were a disorganized bunch; we used the facilities for a number of things like sleeping it off on a pew to avoid the inevitable DUI and for taking a crap on busy nights when the pub's toilet was in great demand. We all felt sort of guilty about this, being Irish and all. Abe could neither re-sell the place at a profit nor could he rent it to anyone, so those of us who used the facility always chipped in a few bucks to keep Abe's bar tab under control.
One thing led to another, and the ever-growing number of like-minded pub patrons decided to make it formal. We talked one of our number who is a lawyer, Almos Dunn, into doing the paperwork to make us legitimate as the Saints Be Praised Church of the Irish Penitent. We re-defined our purpose and re-dedicated ourselves to our primary reason for founding the Church in the first place: We pledged ourselves to the success of the Ministry for the Impecunious Imbibitionistic Irishmen, and we have held fast to the goals of that Ministry ever since.
That's our story, and we're sticking to it.
Further reading
Above -- the Symbol of St. Shamrock
The ornate Celtic Shamrock above is the symbol of our beloved Patron Saint. Since the Church was actually founded ona night in O'Leary's Pub, and since Rocky O'Leary, the owner and operator of that fine establishment is a direct descendant of Kate O'Leary of Chicago Fire fame,the group did regularly toast her memory. But since she was not a recognized Saint, we petitioned our Rector, Fr. Pat McCann, to perform some sort of ritual to make her a Saint. We felt that this was justified since the tragic events attributed to her actions were responsible for her son Jim, who was a pub owner, moving out of Chicago, thus making the current O'Leary's Pub possible.
So, after a pint or two, the good Father did indeed say the Words to elevate Kate to Sainthood. We decided to add to the Mystery by calling her The Little Flower of Ireland, and she became known to all of us as Saint Shamrock.
And that's the truth.