Celeb pals ditch partying for praying after pilgrimage to French holy town

Sunday World

10 hours ago

Big Brother and Love Island pals relax in spa hotel after spending their holidays attending vigils during pilgrimage to French town
Celebrity best friends Shannen Reilly McGrath and Hughie Maughan gave up the chance of a sun holiday to party island Ibiza in order to go on a pilgrimage to Lourdes.
Love Island star Shannen had initially planned to go to the famous French holy town with her boyfriend Luke, having had fond memories going there as a child with her granny.
But when Luke could not get time off work she knew that her Big Brother pal Hughie would be up for going with her.
He too visited Lourdes as a child, and the pair decided to book into a spa hotel in the town where they could relax after spending the day praying and attending vigils.
Hughie and Shannen
'I think people would think me and Hughie would be in Ibiza but I said 'I know it's your birthday coming up, Luke can't come with me, would you love you to go?' and he said he was there as a child as well and religion is very close to his heart,' explains Shannen (31).
'It's just a sense of healing and spiritual. If you lose someone and you kind of go and you see a lot of people who are sick. Like my nana died from cancer, I have friends with sick family members, my granddad has dementia.
'I felt like going would be a sense of healing and praying for others. Like I would have a belief in that anyway. So it was kind of to go and get a sense of belief and a bit of luck, that's my kind of thing. I think the way the world is going we want some calmness and something to believe in.
Important
'I know in this day and age people want to be in Ibiza and they want to be on social media. But family should be important to people as well.'
Shannen, who grew up in Tallaght and now lives in Lusk, visited Lourdes as an 11-year-old with her granny Tess.
Hughie all smiles in Lourdes
'I remember it was the most uncoolest thing ever. I didn't even want to tell people in school but I had such a nice time with her, but I was embarrassed with her at the time. The two of us went with her local parish, Mount Argus next to Harold's Cross,' she recalls.
She explains her granny passed away recently and her granddad in now in a home with dementia, so it's been a tough time for her family.
'I would never pass a church without going in and lighting a candle,' she stresses. ' And like any trip id be on with my partner or even with mam or whatever and I'd see a nice church and light a candle.
'We wouldn't be really holy, in that sense, but I'd always go into a church and light a candle or say a prayer. I've a big thing for St Anthony, like my mammy was always saying 'if you lose something pray to St Anthony'. I had him in my purse going around.
'Our family would be religious, but not to the point of going to Mass every week. I would have a strong belief in it though, the likes of christenings, communions, weddings, my family would do.'
She admits both friends and family were taken aback by her decision to go to Lourdes.
'They'd say in disbelieve, 'you're going to Lourdes?' and kind of a bit shocked by it,' she smiles. 'But I just feel like people don't really appreciate it and they kind of think there's something wrong with it.'
She booked a package trip and flew over with Hughie on a Ryanair flight.
'We were over there we met a pilgrimage from Donegal, they actually asked us to carry their flag. There was a Malahide group there and there was young people there and I think they were with their mothers and grandmothers,' she explains.
Shannen and Hughie's snaps from Lourdes
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The pair made themselves useful.
'We volunteered at the vigils to help. So that was lovely to be involved,' she said. ' We had to carry the flag, and also to go up on the alter at the end of it and look down at all the sick being blessed and say the prayers.
'We had our times for masses, times for vigils. We went to the holy baths and We went to different towns, Bernadette's house. We did get a bit of sun walking around and I did go to the pool a few times in the evenings.
'You see people in their wheelchairs and they're looking for hope and to be blessed. There's also a lot of sick kids.
Wheeled
'On one of the nights we went four times, and there's a lot of sick children being wheeled in and laid out on hospital type beds, so it's kind of surreal when you're there.'
She stresses that people worry about stupid things when there are others with serious illnesses and praying for a miracle.
'Like I've suffered from trolling and I didn't want to get out of bed over something someone said about me, but when you're over there and you see people who are basically crippled and they can't walk, some people don't have arms,' she reflects.
She and Hughie, who is gay, shared a bed for five days.
'One of the nights we went out and went partying a bit' she adds. 'There are a lot of students out there volunteering. The town is busy. The sun is shining.
'We actually went to a karaoke bar and there were loads of people out there in their volunteer outfits. There were older women from Ireland out singing in the bars. It's nice to see, as you see them having a good time and they're making memories.'
Hughie, (31) was in Lourdes twice before, in 2004 and 2005.
He is a Traveller, a community known to have a deep connection with the Catholic faith.
Shannen and Hughie's snaps from Lourdes
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'When I was young me and my mam and dad and family went on a road trip in a campervan around France. We started in the north of France and drove all the way down to Lourdes.
'Then we made our way to various pilgrimage sites. We actually went to where St Bernadette's actual body is, where her grave is.
Climbing
'We went to home of St Therese. We went to Paris and visited the big churches like Notre Dame. Of course as kids we went to Disneyland there too.'
He's also been to Fatima, Medjugorje, Knock, and other religious sites in Poland, as well as climbing Croagh Patrick and going on retreat to Lough Derg.
'I have my own relationship with God. Every single night I pray. I have holy little shrines in my home, and holy water. I'd go to mass on special occasions. I wouldn't go every day or every Sunday,' he maintains.
'It is probably surprising as a gay man I'm like this, but I don't look at religious or God being anti-gay, I think it's just people and propaganda.'
He admits he was surprised when Shannen suggested they go to Lourdes together.
'I was surprised, but at the same time we've had many conversations in the past about her going with her nanny and her having her beliefs,' he notes.
'A lot of people have prejudices about the church because of the Magdalene laundries. But I'm very religious and Shannen is too.'
He says the couple got recognised a lot on the trip from Irish people who'd seen them on TV.
'We'd tell people we were just friends if people asked us. I'd never keep it secret me being gay,' he insists.
Shannen and Hughie are all smiles in Lourdes
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 27th