A TD told how he had to usher his young children to safety as the punch-up, went on for more than 10 minutes.

Peadar Tóibín, Sinn Féin TD for Meath West, said: “As Fr Declan concluded Mass I could hear raised voices at the back of the chapel. When I turned to look, there were about 15 people roaring and pointing at each other.

“There was a little bit of jostling inside the church but when Mass-goers were leaving by the Fair Green entrance they walked into a battleground.

“When I came out there was a serious row going on. This wasn’t handbags — boxes were being thrown; people were taking full-on punches to the head. It was mainly men, although there was one woman in the middle of it. I think she was just caught up in it rather than being an active participant.

“I grabbed my kids and moved them away from the scene. Other parents were comforting their children, who were clearly shaken up by what was going on.

“The whole thing lasted somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes at a guess, and towards the end there seemed to be reinforcements arriving for both sides.

“Fr Declan arrived out and fair play to him, he went into the middle of it and basically told them to get off the church grounds. Thankfully they listened to him and started to move away, while still roaring at each other.”

Gardaí arrived, but after Fr Declan’s intervention, the fight petered out, Mr Tóibín said.

Another eyewitness, who did not wish to be named, said: “It was a horrific scene; families with young kids just walked out into the middle of it.

Fr Declan was the hero of the piece. I think he took a gamble that they would respect his priest’s collar and it paid off because as soon as he got between them they all left the church grounds.”

The priest himself played down his role. “It was more or less over when I got to it. I just told them to get out and they went. It’s not the first time this sort of thing has happened; let me tell you that you cannot be a shrinking violet in my job,” he said.