Fr. Peyton Memorial Centre

"The family that prays together, stays together"

The Fr Peyton CSC Memorial Centre was officially opened and dedicated on 10th October 1998.

The Centre commemorates the life and apostolic work of Fr Peyton CSC [1909 - 1992] 'The Rosary Priest' and is a place of respite, prayer and peace. It is highly respected by pilgrims and is a popular tourist attraction.

The centre and parish are celebrating the centenary of Fr Peyton's birth in 2009.

Opening Hours

Please see our news page for the latest opening times.

Centenary Mass

A special Mass to celebrate the centenary of Fr Peyton's birth was held at St Joseph's Church, Attymass, on the 4th January 2009.

The Mass was broadcast live by RTÉ television.

Click here for details of how to watch a video of the Mass.

Memorial Statue Unveiling

His Eminence Cardinal Seán Brady, Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland led celebrations to mark the unveiling of a seven foot bronze statue of Servant of God Fr. Patrick Peyton CSC, "The Rosary Priest", at the Fr Peyton Memorial Centre, Attymass on Sunday the 26th April 2009. Click here for more details & photographs.

Click here to download a history of Father Patrick Peyton, CSC in his own words as taken from his autobiography, All for Her. [Acrobat PDF]

*Material by kind permission of The Holy Cross Family Ministries - http://hcfm.org in the United States. Please visit the site for much more information.

Brief History

Fr Patrick Peyton was born on 9th January 1909 in the townland of Carracastle in Attymass parish. He was a member of a family of nine children.

At the age of 19 he and his brother, Tom, emigrated to the United States to join with their sister, Nellie. His wish from boyhood was to be ordained a priest but his family in Ireland were unable to meet the cost of his education.

Education

In the United States he returned to full-time education and studied for the priesthood. During his final year in the seminary he was diagnosed as having tuberculosis. At that time tuberculosis was incurable. Fr Patrick was very weak and was given little hope by the medical team of recovering to full health. Fr Patrick had great faith and prayed to the Blessed Virgin Mary for a recovery to health. His prayers were answered and his health began to improve to the amazement of the medical profession.

He was ordained to the priesthood on 15th June 1941.

Prayer Crusade

Fr Peyton was so grateful to the Blessed Virgin Mary for his health that he, with the permission of his superiors, began the Prayer Crusade which took him all over the world preaching the importance of prayer, especially family prayer.

He staged hundreds of radio and television shows with many of the famous movie stars of Broadway and Hollywood taking part. He was the founder of "Family Rosary" and "Family Theatre".

His famous slogan was: "The family that prays together, stays together."