Mullagh is the place to be tonight, Co Cavan, birthplace of one of the great Irish missionaries to Europe in the seventh century, who was martyred in Wurzburg in Franconia, along with two companions. For tonight in the parish church of Mullagh, St. Kilian's Church, a concert will be performed by the Cathedral choir of Wurzburg, with music by Mozart, Liszt, Rachmaninov and others. With the choir is travelling the Auxiliary Bishop of Wurzburg, Most Reverend Helmut Bauer. It is a good and touching thought that these worthy people have come from their homes in central Germany to pay tribute to a man from this small Irish community. It is the manifestation of the fact that these men who penetrated the heart of Europe some thirteen centuries ago, are still well remembered in the communities to which they brought the message. People from the dioceses of Wurzburg and neighbouring dioceses have long venerated St Kilian, and, the St Kilian's Heritage Centre, Mullagh, informs us that many groups of pilgrims come to the Saint's native Ireland, and in particular Mullagh, each year.
It was around AD 689 that Kilian set sail for the Continent from Kerry with eleven companions and made their way eventually (some journey) along the rivers Rhine and Maine into Franconia where, tradition has it, he planted a cross on a hill known as Kreuzberg, overlooking the modern city of Wurzburg. Thousands of Franconians, it is said, were baptised by Kilian and his companions, including the ruler Duke Gosbert. The conversion of the ruler was to have fatal results for Kilian and his two companions Colonat and Totnan. For Kilian told Gosbert that he was wrongfully married to his wife Geilana - and should leave her. When she heard of this Geilana arranged that the three be killed. They were beheaded. Around 752 the remains of the three martyrs were discovered buried in a stable. They were removed to a church on the Marienburg and soon pilgrims from all over Europe, including many from Ireland, flocked to the shrine of the three. They are remembered each year on Kilian's feast (July 8th) when relics of the three are carried in procession through the city.
KIlian is also remembered at home at the well named after him in the nearby townland of Cloughballybeg. And in 1991 relics of Kilian were brought back from Wurzburg. You can learn more about him in the St Kilian's Heritage Centre in Mullagh. The Wurzburg Choir is internationally famous and under its distinguished and much awarded conductor Professor Siegfried Koesler. Mullagh is just a few miles over the Cavan border from Moynalty in Meath.