Church’s novel approach sees thousands flock to novena in Limerick

Googling God is getting big results for one of Ireland’s biggest annual religious gatherings.

More than 10,000 people are attending Limerick’s nine-day novena organised by the Redemptorist order at Mount St Alphonsus Church, which finishes on Saturday.

With falling numbers, it was decided to embark on a new marketing campaign focusing on digital media.

And it’s working.

When it commenced in 1973, more than 30,000 attended each day and marquees had to be erected near the church to hold worshippers. After years of falling numbers, attendances at the 10 daily sessions are now on the increase.

Fr Seamus Enright, rector at Mount St Alphonsus, said they had more than 13,000 attending the Sunday ceremonies.

“We start each day at 7am and go on until 10pm,” said Fr Enright. “People come from the greater North Munster catchment area from a 50-mile radius of Limerick city. Some people come every day and then there are people who dip in and out.”

He said it used to be known as the Solemn Novena, but now they also use Limerick’s Novena brand.

Research with Southern Marketing and Advertising, he said, had found the word “solemn” had connotations of “boring”, “serious”, and “dead” with younger people.

Fr Enright said: “The novena is anything but boring, dead, or serious: It’s anything but; in fact it’s very lively.”

He said the power of advertising had always been important down the years.

“But we hadn’t radically revamped the advertising since the novena started over 40 years ago,” he said. “We decided to look again at advertising and digital advertising, through the internet and Google. And we have noticed a big increase in people in their 20s and 30s. And this may be down to the digital strategy.

“We brought Southern on board and they came up with some very fresh imaginative advertising for us, particularly on social media. We did some Google advertising and it’s getting results.”

Fr Enright said part of the appeal of the novena is the Irish liking for big occasions: “There is something in the Irish temperament which likes gatherings, whether it’s here or Thomond Park or the Gaelic Grounds of Markets Field. We like gatherings.”

Fr Enright said politicians could learn a lot from the novena: “People write out prayers and leave them at the shrine and we read them out. You get that sense of what is troubling and bothering people from these messages and I remember one person telling me that he told one of his local TDs that he need never do an opinion poll in Limerick, as that if he wanted to know what was troubling people, all he need do is come up an read the prayers left at the shrine at the novena. The recession has put huge pressure on famililes. A lot of parents are in sorrow over their children having to emigrate.”

Fr Enright said the fact more than 10,000 attend each day is encouraging: “I don’t doubt there is a crisis of faith in the country. I don’t doubt that there is a crisis around the Church and anger around the Church, much of which is well deserved. But I still think there is a lot of faith in the country and a lot of it is under the radar.”