Society Of African Missions (SMA)
Dromantine is owned by the SMA which today has about 1000 members coming from Africa, Europe, America and Asia.
The Irish Province of the SMA has 5 houses – 2 in Cork, 1 in Dublin, 1 in Claregalway and Dromantine.
Bishop Melchior de Marion Brésillac
SMA was founded in Lyons (France) by Bishop Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856. The Society celebrated 150 years of missionary activity in 2006.
Bishop de Brésillac was a French missionary who had a strong desire to bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to Africa – especially to “the most abandoned peoples of Africa.”
He and five others went to Freetown, Sierra Leone in 1859 but all succumbed to a yellow fever epidemic. Within six weeks of their arrival in Africa de Brésillac and four of this companions died.
As he died on 25th June 1859, de Brésillac’s last words were “Faith, Hope, Charity” and these became the motto of the Society.
Despite such extreme hardships and challenges in Africa the work and vision of the Founder has continued and flourished over the long passage of time to the present day.
The SMA today has about 1000 members coming from Africa, Europe, America and Asia. They work in 51 dioceses in Africa as well as in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Oceania. In their home countries, SMA members promote the missionary dimension of the church through a variety of apostolic activities including work for African immigrants.
The international administrative headquarters of the SMA is in Rome.
See www.smaroma.org
The Irish Province of the SMA has five Houses – two in Cork, one in Dublin, Claregalway and Dromantine in Co. Down.
This Province has 220 members. Its members continue missionary work in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt, Philippines, as well as in Europe, North America and Australia.
Friends Of Africa
Friends of Africa is a development organisation initially set up as a lay charity associated with the Society of African Missions. It is an organisation which supports and works in partnership with young people in Africa run by young people in Ireland.
The foundations were built from the ideas of ex-members of the annual Dromantine SMA Youth Summer Camp.
In April 1998 a group of ex-members of the SMA Boys Summer Camp (held annually at Dromantine) and their friends met with the Superior General of the SMA. They discussed how they could become more involved in the Mission work of the Church in Africa.
Following these discussions they decided to form a group that would facilitate the aspirations of young people connected to the SMA to become more involved in its Mission.
The group formed naming themselves the Friends of Africa and set about outlining their goals and objectives. They wished to make positive contributions to the lives of people living in Africa. By establishing positive and direct links between Ireland and Africa the group endeavoured to tackle the problems faced by youth in both places.
Friends of Africa are currently involved with partners in Zambia, Tanzania, South Africa and Ghana supporting existing projects already established in the various countries where they work.
