Caitriona & Craig

It's not every day that you have a Bishop concelebrating a wedding, but we did last week for Caitriona & Craig - The Bishop of Achonry, Brendan Kelly. He was very low-key though, no mitres or croziers. One of the other celebrants was my former school chaplain, while Craig & Caitriona's friend, Fr Chris was the one to actually conduct the ceremony.

The first surprise of the day was the arrival of the wedding "car" to Caitriona's house. Craig had arranged a vintage VW Camper van for the day, as both he and Caitriona are keen on sporty road-trip activities - kayaking, cycling, surfing. It went down a treat with Caitriona, though I'm not sure her mother, Mary, was quite so keen. It got Caitriona and Eamon to the Church on time, though it ran into a spot of bother later. There were monsoons throughout the day, with water lying everywhere on the roads. The poor old camper van couldn't cope, and gave up the ghost just as it got into Mohill. Pushing didn't help, so a rope did the trick, and the bride & groom arrived to Lough Rynn in style, being towed behind Eamon's car.

As you'll see from the pictures, despite the rain and the breakdowns, Caitriona & Craig kept smiling throughout the day - this was a fun wedding with great atmosphere and lovely people. I didn't get to hear enough of Caitriona's brother Liam's Rugby World Cup adventure, but he picked up a few souvenirs along the way, with Jonathan Sexton giving Liam his boots and Brian O'Driscoll presenting him with a jersey. Caitriona & Craig are enjoying a cycling holiday in Grenada for their honeymoon, something I'd love to do sometime. I'm sure Caitriona won't need her wellies there, but they certainly came in handy on Saturday.