A lesbian couple who were forced out of their local church choir by a disapproving parishoner returned to their roles amid rapturous applause at the weekend.

The couple, Jacinta O’Donnell and Geraldine Flanagan, returned to St Michael’s Catholic Church in Athy for mass on Sunday following a brief hiatus, after a fellow parishoner decried the “contradiction and hypocrisy” of their position in the church.

The couple left the choir, later explaining their decision on Kildare’s Kfm. “Geraldine and I, the only things we’ve tried to do is provide a music ministry and the who idea behind that was to enhance the Eucharist and bringing this trouble to the church would be really futile and would negate anything we’re trying to do.”

“So we thought about it very hard and it was and still is a very difficult decision that we came to and we’re both very upset by it.”

Meanwhile, complaining parishoner Murphy, who is editor of The Catholic Voice, told website Church Militant that he has received death threats since the story broke.

“I have been threatened by members of the local Sinn Fein IRA Party not to go into my local town unless I have a ‘death wish,'” Murphy told Church Militant. He also claims that the Gardaí told him not to attend Sunday mass over concerns for his safety.

Murphy also criticised parish priest Canon Frank McEvoy for an alleged lack of support over the issue, claiming that the canon deemed him “homophobic”. The couple said that McEvoy has been supportive of them.

Following the outpouring of support that greeted the couple after their appearance on Kfm, the couple decided to return to their positions in St Michael’s choir.

Check out this video, recorded by a parishioner, of their heartwarming ‘welcome home’.