Delgany’s 145-Year-Old Nativity Scene

Sister Gwen TUES22DEC15

or anyone who has grown up in this area, the near-life-size Christmas crib that was hidden in the walls of Delgany’s Catholic church had always been a big part of the festive season.

How to explain this manger to someone who’s never seen it, up close and personal?

Well, it’s basically a Caravaggio painting in 3D. Only better.

It was whilst exploring the annals of this 163-year-old church that the resident Carmelite nuns discovered the crib’s origins. It was in 1870 that a “pious woman from Bray” donated the nativity scene figures to the church, leaving no name. Between 1870 and 1879, a 15-foot-deep home for the manger setting was built on the side of the small church, its presence hidden for most of the year behind a wall panel.

Making its big reveal every Christmas Eve all the more magical.

Sister Gwen – with her 99-year-old grandmother Mrs Teresa Fleming – joining the Carmelites Nov 1983

We were lucky enough to talk to Sister Gwen Collins from the monastery about the crib’s origins, along with its impact and significance over the last century and a half, which you can catch in our video below, recorded on Tuesday December 22nd, 2015.

Since then, sadly, the Carmelite nuns decided to pack up and move on, their Delgany home selling for a staggering €15m in November 2019.

The Lord moves in mysterious – and highly lucrative – ways, my child…  

You can find out more about the Carmelite Monastery here. You can also check out Shay Clear’s oral history of the Carmelite Monastery here. The crib is now at The Holy Redeemer Church on Bray main street, with a slight return to Delgany on December 15th 2023.