McCourt Corpus Christi
What is happening in the photo?
Frances (Fanny) McCourt and daughter Marie McCourt dressed in religious robes for Corpus Christi May celebrations. This photograph was taken in the side garden of their house in Culhane Street, Dundalk, County Louth.
Corpus Christi falls between late May and the middle of June, on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday (60 days after Easter). It involves a procession that carries the consecrated wafer through the streets as a public statement that the sacrifice of Christ was for the salvation of the whole world. Catholics take part in a procession through the streets near their parish following mass and pray and sing. Women and girls traditionally dress in white and blue robes. The Eucharist, known as the Blessed Sacrament, is placed in a monstrance and is held aloft by a member of the clergy during the procession. After the procession, parishioners return to the church where benediction usually takes place.