Welcome to Our City Oasis


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A Place of Stillness and Beauty

Reflect Together About Things That Matter

Spend Time in a Bio-Diverse Haven

Welcome to the Margaret Aylward Centre for Faith and Dialogue

Named in honour of Margaret Aylward, the founder of the Holy Faith Sisters, in whose grounds the centre sits.

I am not a poet, though Glasnevin might make one a poet.
Margaret Aylward

Opened in February 2014, this contemporary building is set in beautiful surroundings steeped in rich history in a place long associated with the spiritual life. From St Mobhi in the 6th century right up to the Holy Faith Sisters.  Be inspired and nourished in this welcoming space where people of all faiths and none can find both stillness and dialogue.
#cityoasis.

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Upcoming Events

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Margaret Aylward Centre

Friday Film Club #3 “The Blind Side”

The true story of how a wealthy family make room in their lives and their home for a young man who is homeless and struggling to stay in school 5 May 2023 - Friday Film Club “The Blind Side” 26 May 2023 - Friday Film Club...

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Margaret Aylward Centre

May Meditations #1 – Creation Walk With Brian Grogan SJ

Brian Grogan SJ will lead two sessions of reflection on the gift of creation and our place within it. Making the most of our beautiful grounds, these evenings will encourage a deeper understanding  and appreciation of God’s creation as we find it around us, and...

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Margaret Aylward Centre

Creation A Sacred Gift 3 – World Bee Day

A series of events that celebrate and enable us to understand our place in the great community of life on Earth. We need a spirituality that emerges out of a reality deeper than ourselves, a spirituality that is as deep as the Earth process itself,...

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Margaret Aylward Centre

May Meditations #2 – Finding God in a Leaf

Brian Grogan SJ will lead two sessions of reflection on the gift of creation and our place within it. Making the most of our beautiful grounds, these evenings will encourage a deeper understanding  and appreciation of God’s creation as we find it around us, and...

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News

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Embrace Equity – International Women’s Day 2023

Wednesday, 8 March is International Women’s Day and this year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity. Most people have some understanding and awareness of the issue of gender equality, of the various forms of discrimination which can disadvantage women in terms of their social, economic, political, educational and…

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World Day for Social Justice

Monday, 20 February 2023 marks World Day for Social Justice and this year’s theme is “Overcoming barriers and unleashing opportunities for Social Justice.” It can be easy for us to feel disconnected from this theme and wonder what we can do anything to support it….

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A Spiritual Journey

The Margaret Aylward Centre is proud to share a new addition to our Centre in the form of “A Spiritual Journey”. This beautiful piece of artwork is on long-term loan to the Centre from Josette Vasallo, a French artist who has been living in Ireland…

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Beannachtaí Lá Fhéile Bríghid Oraibh go Léir!

Today is the feast of our most famous female saint, Brigid who died 1500 years ago. Born around Faughart in Co Louth and the daughter of a chieftain, Brigid was deeply committed to her Christian faith and is most closely associated with Kildare where she…

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Holocaust Memorial Day 2023 – Ordinary People

The Holocaust was a horrific event in history in which six million Jews and millions of others were systematically murdered by the Nazi regime during World War II. By remembering the Holocaust we honor the victims and ensure that such atrocities are never repeated. The…

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2023 Newsletter – Awakening 1

Happy New Year to all our friends and collaborators. We hope you had a peaceful and restful break over Christmas and are looking towards 2023 with real hope. It has been a remarkably mild winter so far, apart from a few days of frost and…

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New Book: Responding to Child Poverty in Dublin: John Gowan CM, 1817-1897

Promotor of Young Ireland, organiser of famine relief in Wicklow, co-founder of the Holy Faith Sisters, Irish speaker, pilgrim, and a mean handball player: this was John Gowan, Skerries-born, Dublin diocesan, and then Vincentian priest who made such an impact in inner-city Dublin in the mid…

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Happy Christmas

May your hearts and homes be filled with the Light of God With Us this Christmas. May you and yours be blessed with peace, love and hope. Read more here Events at the centre click here

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Happy Hanukkah – Festival of Lights

Happy Hanukkah – Wishing abundant blessings of this special season to the Jewish community. Hanukkah, or the Festival of Rededication, celebrates the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its defilement by the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE. Although it is a late addition to the Jewish liturgical…

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Newsletter – Awakening 9

Another liturgical year has ended. Advent and the month of December are all that stands between us and the celebration of Christmas and the end of the calendar year.   Click here to read our Newsletter – Awakening 9 Events at the centre click here

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112th Anniversary of Margaret Aylward’s Birthday

Today we celebrate the 112th anniversary of Margaret Aylward’s birthday. The foundress of the Holy Faith Sisters demonstrated a lifelong commitment to social justice and advocating for those on the margins of society, with a special care for women and children. Living and working throughout…

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Christmas Craft Fair at the Margaret Aylward Centre

We are excited to be hosting our first ever Christmas Craft fair in the Centre on Saturday 12th November from 10am-1pm.  Ideas for gifts or items to bring some festive spirit to your homes can be found in the selection of crafts such as knitwear,…

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Newsletter – Awakening 8

As we celebrate the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls, we take time to reflect on those who have gone before us. We remember their lives and their part in our lives and we entrust them to God. We hold those whose hearts are…

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Shubh Deepavali to all celebrating Diwali today!

Today is the beginning of Diwali, the Festival of Lights which is traditionally celebrated by the Hindu religion, but also by Sikhs and Jains. It is a festival which symbolises the triumph of light over darkness, of good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali…

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Taking Time to Listen

It was an honour and a privilege to participate in the event on Monday, 17th October to mark UN Eradication of Poverty Day 2022 at the Poverty Stone, and to hear so many people of courage share their stories of struggle and hope with such…

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International Day for the Eradication of Poverty – 17 October 2022

As we mark another International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we are proud to support @ATDIreland and the work they are doing to #EndPoverty – more vital now than ever.     Click on the image below to view a short powerful film released…

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2022 Newsletter – Issue 7

With Summer well and truly over, we can see the rhythm of the year move towards shorter days and an autumnal feel in the air. Despite the change in the weather, many people find Autumn an uplifting time of year, perhaps because of the wonderful…

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Feast of St Francis of Assisi

Today is the feast of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of animals and nature. St Francis choose to leave a life of wealth and prosperity and came to see every part of creation, every creature, plant, element and person as his family. He understood…

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Christmas Craft Fair 2022

We are holding a Christmas Craft Fair on Saturday, 12 November 2022 from10am – 1.00pm Register your interest in taking a table by contacting: e: info@macfd.ie | t: 017979364

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Happy Rosh Hashanah

Happy Rosh Hashanah to our Jewish friends. May this new year be filled with abundant blessings for you. Read more here

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2022 World Car Free Day

Thursday, 22 September is World Car Free Day 2022. With carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being the major causes of global warming, this day brings awareness to what we can all do to help the environment and to the benefits of using cars less…

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Season of Creation 2022

The Season of Creation is marked throughout the Christian world each year from 1 September until the feast of St Francis of Assisi on 4 October. It celebrates the joy of creation as well as encouraging awareness-raising initiatives to protect the natural environment. Drawing inspiration…

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Autumn/Winter Programme 2022

Click on the link below to view some of the events coming up this Autumn at the Margaret Aylward Centre. You can book here on our website – or call us on 01 7979364 or email info@macfd.ie 2022 AW Brochure  

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Review of Spring – Summer at the Centre

As we approach the end of the summer break, we have been reflecting on some of the great things that happened in the Centre over the past few months. We are so grateful for your support and friendship and are looking forward to seeing many…

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Donate Your Unused Wool

Have you any unwanted wool in your cupboard? All wool used for the benefit of others to arrange drop off contact the centre. From September | Tuesday – Friday | 10.30am – 3.00pm Tel: 017979364 | Mobile: 087 6649862 | Email: info@macfd.ie 

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St Patrick’s Day – Lá Fhéile Pádraig

Happy St Patrick’s Day from the Margaret Aylward Centre. As we celebrate the feast day of our national patron saint, there is value in reflecting on the relevance of Patrick’s story for us in 2022. Patrick’s journey was one of separation, imprisonment, slavery and fear….

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Day of Fasting for Peace

During a General Audience address on Wednesday, 23 February, Pope Francis invited everyone to make Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting for Peace in Ukraine. “And now I would like to appeal to everyone, believers and non-believers alike. Jesus taught us that the diabolical senselessness…

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The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty

In the run up to World Day of Social Justice on 20th February,  ATD Ireland, the Christian Brothers and Presentation Sisters collaborated with the Margaret Aylward Centre to create a series of workshops highlighting the Hidden Dimensions of Poverty. These workshops were hosted in the…

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Epiphany

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, marking the arrival of the Magi, or Wise Men to worship – and recognise – the infant Jesus as the Incarnation of the Divine. It is a feast which for many people marks the ‘end’ of Christmas,…

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2021 – Merry Christmas!

Dear Friends, As we journey towards Christmas, the days continue to get darker and the darkness of uncertainty and fear seems to be deeper than ever. But we journey towards a promise, the promise of a Light which will come into the world, which the…

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Thoughts of the week

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)

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