My name is Philomena Lynch I’m married to Peter, together we have two sons Johnny & Peter and a Foster daughter Joely. I come from a big family and i was born and reared in O’Hanlon Park, the best place to live back then.

My story begins when I turned 16 and I began to feel an emptiness in my life, a searching for something that i didn’t know what for. I began to talk to religious people and others about how i felt but no-one seemed to understand what i was saying or give me the answer i was looking for. As i began work in Clarks shoe factory just around that time i tried to put it out of my head and just enjoy myself but there was always a hunger, a longing for something more than this life.
When i was 19 i was invited to a Bible meeting by a girl i worked with, i was very skeptical as you can imagine 32 years ago there was a certain amount of stigma attached to anything outside of going to mass etc. But i went and enjoyed it and it was simply people reading the Bible and praying and singing songs to God. I was going to the meetings for about 6 months and even though I enjoyed them and had started reading my Bible I couldn’t grasp the thought that God wanted to come into my life, that Jesus died on the cross for me and all I needed to do was accept this. I thought it couldn’t be that simple, so I tried to change myself and become a better person and thought maybe now i will feel good enough for God. But it didn’t work and i couldn’t keep up this trying to change thing myself.
On April 1st 1980 I went as usual to the Bible study and as I sat there listening to the speaker I found myself talking to God in my head and saying i just cant get this i don’t understand what it means to be a Christian , it seems to simple to just ask God to come into your life.
As the meeting progressed, a little thought came to me that I would never be good enough for heaven, and that didn’t surprise me and so i thought what is the point of it all then.

The next little thought that came to me was “Just accept what My Son did for you on the cross and that’s all, He paid the price for you so you can be good enough for heaven” I didn’t know then but later i realized it was God putting those thoughts in my mind, so i responded by telling God i was sorry that my sins had put Jesus to the cross and I accepted the fact that He died for me and asked to come into my life and He Did……
I didn’t understand all about the Bible but i knew definitely that God had come into my life, I knew that all the good things i had done or could do would never make me good enough for heaven, nor could all the bad things keep me out, God showed me the only way was to accept the wonderful fact that He loved me so much He gave His only Son to die on the cross for me, to forgive me all my sins, and give me a brand new start.
At that time as i said earlier there was a lot of stigma attached to anything different from mass etc and so we did get a lot of flack here and there but, the thing is that something had happened inside of me that no one could take away because no one person had given it to me, but God.
That was 31 years ago just before my 20th birthday and God has become more real to me ever since. The emptiness and loneliness that i experienced at sixteen has never ever returned, I’ve been alone since many a time but never lonely, God tells me in His Word the Bible that He will never leave me or forsake me, I have a peace now that is immeasurable, a hope that is wonderful and secure, and a joy at having my sins forgiven and the knowledge on a daily basis that God loves me so much and is concerned about every aspect of my life. God has changed my life so much , I couldn’t change in my own strength and neither can you. People, friends can change and unfortunately let you down, but there is one who will never ever disappoint you, fail you, or ever ever leave you and His Name is Jesus. Just ask Him...