Glenamaddy pastoral council in Co Galway accommodated busy parishioners today by operating a drive-through service for Ash Wednesday.

The service ran from 8am to 9.30am for those commuting to work or bringing children to school. One of the people behind the initiative, Fr Paddy Mooney said the inaugural year of the Ash Wednesday drive-through was well attended.

“There was a big crowd around – we couldn’t get over it,” he told the Irish Farmers Journal. “We had everything from bikes to tractors. It was a busy day, and a fine day for it.

“We wanted to go outside and talk to our parishioners. Jesus didn’t stay inside the temple, he went out to the people, so did we today.”

The story, first reported by The Dealer last week, has gone viral and has been picked up by media outlets such as RTÉ and BBC. Did Fr Mooney expect such interest from the media and general public?

“We were amazed by the response and definitely weren’t expecting it to go viral.”

“Tomorrow we will have Mass at 7am, for the people who have to go to work at 9am. It’s our way of being available to everyone.”

Take a look at photos from Glenamaddy in our gallery