A parish priest who has turned over his parochial house to a Ukrainian family fleeing the war says being a Christian is “not just praying for something, it is about doing it”.

Fr Brian Griffin, of Castletown parish in Co Laois, opened the doors of the village’s historic Bianconi House – an old coaching inn – to two women and their four children seeking refuge in Ireland after escaping Poltava, near Kharkiv and Dnipro.

Dozens of church properties, private buildings and local authority premises across Ireland are being converted for use as emergency accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

In the Catholic diocese of Kerry alone, seven presbyteries or parish houses are being offered as accommodation. A large youth centre in the centre of Killarney is already hosting refugees, while the John Mitchels GAA Sports Complex in Tralee has been placed on standby.