Portable Mass Alter and Priests Vestments

"Portable Mass Alter (almost completely original), submitted by the Barron Family, Barefield, Ennis Co. Clare. The Alter belonged to Fr. Edward Kinsella, a native of Craanmore, Kildavin, Co. Carlow, who was a grand uncle of the current owner of the artefact John Barron. Fr. Kinsella, was ordained a priest in July 1923. The following year, he departed for Freetown, Sierra Leone, to begin several long tenures as a missionary priest and educationalist. The Alter was gifted to Fr. Kinsella by his parents Sylvester and Mary Kinsella prior to his departure to Sierra Leone in 1924. The portable Alter was used extensively by Father Edward Kinsella to celebrate Mass in the bush, in Sierra Leone on a regular basis, when permanent church facilities were not available. Fr. Kinsella, returned to Ireland on a permanent basis in 1963, where he spent extended periods of time living with his sister in law and nephew, until his death in 1979. The Alter was used to celebrate Mass on a daily basis wherever Fr. Kinsella was in residence and also in the home of various friends and relatives. The current owner of the Alter served Mass as an alter boy on numerous occasions, during the period 1964 -1966 where the Alter was used. "