Obituaries 2010

CARDINAL CAHAL BRENDAN DALY

Cardinal Daly, a native of Loughguile, Co. Antrim, Diocese of Down & Connor, was born in October 1917. He was educated at St Patrick’s National School, Loughguile, St Malachy’s College, Belfast and Queen’s University, Belfast. He was ordained Priest in June 1941. He studied philosophy and theology in St Patrick’s College, Maynooth where he received a Doctorate in Divinity in 1944. In 1953 he received a Licentiate in Philosophy at the Institut Catholique in Paris.
His first appointment was as Classics Master in St Malachy’s College, Belfast (1945-6). In 1946 he was appointed Lecturer in Scholastic Philosophy at Queen’s University, Belfast. He became a Reader in Scholastic Philosophy at Queen’s in 1963, a post he held until 1967 when he was appointed Bishop of Ardagh & Clonmacnois. In 1982 he was appointed Bishop of Down & Connor in succession to Bishop William Philbin. On the 6th of November 1990 he was appointed Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland in Succession to Cardinal Tomás Ó Fiaich, and was later created a Cardinal on the 28th of June 1991. Cardinal Daly retired as Archbishop of Armagh on the 1st of October 1996. He died on 31 December 2009 and was buried in the grounds of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Armagh.

REV. CYRIL REILLY

Fr. Cyril Reilly was born in the parish of Portglenone on the 26th May 1930. He was educated at St.Malachy’s College, Belfast and St. Peter’s College, Wexford, where he was Ordained to the Priesthood on 5th June 1955. His first appointment was as Curate to Bright Parish, Legamaddy. Some ten years later, he was appointed as Curate in Ballycastle and in 1969 became a Curate in Kilkeel where he remained until 1978. In September 1978, Fr. Reilly was appointed Curate in the Parish of Sacred Heart, Belfast. In May 1985, Fr Reilly was appointed Parish Priest of Greencastle, Belfast and in 1990, he became Parish Priest of Aghagallon. In August 1998, Fr. Cyril retired from active pastoral ministry. He died on 12th January 2010 and is buried in the graveyard at St Patrick’s Church, Aghagallon.

REV. GERARD MCATEER

Fr. Gerard McAteer was born in Larne on 26th June 1918. He studied at Ballymena Technical School and completed an undergraduate degree in Irish Studies at the University of Ulster before commencing his studies for the priesthood in St Peter’s Wexford. He was ordained on 5th June 1983 and his first appointment was as a temporary chaplain to the hospitals in Belfast. In September 1983, he was appointed as a Curate in St. Joseph’s, Lower Mourne where he remained until August 1987. From 1987 until August 1999, he was a Curate on Rathlin Island, the last full time Curate to hold this post. In 1999, Fr. Gerard retired from active ministry. He died on 16th January 2010 and is buried in the Cemetery adjacent to Sacred Heart Church, Cargin.

REV. CHRISTOPHER DALLAT

Fr. Christopher Dallat was born in the parish of Ramoan (Ballycastle) on 14th February 1915. He was educated at St.Malachy’s College, Queen’s University and St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, where he was Ordained to the Priesthood on 22nd June 1941. His first appointment was as a Curate in the Parish of Dunloy where he remained until November 1947. Following this, he was appointed as Curate in Ballykinlar. From September 1954 until July 1959, Fr Christopher was a Curate in Whiteabbey (Parish of Whitehouse). In July 1959, Fr Dallat was appointed as Curate in Sacred Heart Parish where he remained until July 1973. His first appointment as Parish Priest was in July 1973 to the Parish of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Whitehouse. In April 1984, Fr Christopher was appointed to Ballymoney. He retired in August 1990. From January 1991, he worked pro tem as a Curate in Cloughmills where he remained until he fully retired from pastoral ministry in February 2002. Fr Christopher died on 16th February 2010 and his requiem Mass was celebrated in St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s Church, Ballycastle with internment directly afterwards in the adjoining cemetery.

REV. KEVIN O’LEARY

Fr. Kevin O’Leary was born on 29 May, 1924 in the parish of Ronerstown, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. As the second world war broke out in 1939 he went off to join the Rosminian Order, an Order which had a Church in Clonmel at the time and still has a parish in the town. Fr Kevin continued his theological studies in Rome. After his years in the novitiate in Cork it was a great experience to live in the Rosminian College at Porta Latina, and study in the Lateran University with students from all over the world. Bishop Eugene O’Doherty ordained Fr Kevin in St. Colman’s Cathedral, Newry on 10 July 1949. Fr Kevin was firstly appointed to the college in Omeath where he taught for 25 years, ten of them as Headmaster. He also studied at QUB, Belfast from 1957-1962. On 1 August 1974, Fr Kevin was seconded by Bishop William Philbin to work in the Diocese of Down and Connor where he assisted in the parish of Ballymena and as a curate in St. Mary’s on the Hill, Glengormley. On 5 April 1978, Fr Kevin was incardinated into the Diocese of Down and Connor and he went on to serve as a curate in Glengormley before transferring to Newcastle, where he worked as a curate from 1983 to 1989. In August 1989, Fr Kevin was appointed as parish priest of St. Anthony’s, Willowfield before retiring to the parish of Castlewellan in August 1996. Fr Kevin O’Leary died on 7 April 2010 and his Funeral Mass was celebrated in St Malachy’s Church, Castlewellan with burial afterwards in Bryansford Cemetery, Newcastle.

REV. PROFESSOR JAMES MCEVOY

Fr James McEvoy was born on 14 October 1943. He was educated at St MacNissi’s College; St Malachy’s Diocesan Seminary; Queens University and St Patrick’s College, Maynooth. He was ordained in 1968 and soon emerged as one of the most prominent scholastic philosophers and theologians in Europe. He combined a sharp intellect with an ever-present pastoral concern and love for the Diocese.

During his time at QUB he came under the influence of Professor Theodore Crowley, OFM, who inspired in him a life-long interest in the Franciscan tradition. Following his ordination he pursued postgraduate studies in Philosophy at Louvain (1968-1971) where he was awarded the Diplome D’Etudes Médiévales. From 1972-1973 he studied at the Grabmann Institut of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat, Munich. This led to the completion of his Ph.D in Scholastic Philosophy in Louvain in 1974.

Upon returning to the Diocese he took up temporary appointments in St Paul’s and St Agnes’ Parishes before joining the staff of QUB as a lecturer in the Department of Scholastic Philosophy (1974-1988). In 1976 he was appointed to the Chair of Scholastic Philosophy at QUB. In 1982 he undertook the higher Doctorat and became Maître Agrégé en Philosophie de l’École de St Thomas d’Aquin (Louvain), one of the youngest ever to hold this prestigious title. He was also elected to membership of the Royal Irish Academy. In 1988 Professor McEvoy was appointed Professor Ordinaire at the Institut Superieur de Philosophie of the Université Catholique de Louvain (Louvain-La-Neuve). From 1988 he specialised in research into ancient and medieval philosophy. In 1995 he was appointed to the Chair of Philosophy at St Patrick’s College in Maynooth as Head of the Faculty of Philosophy (1996-2004).

In September 2004 Fr McEvoy returned to QUB where he lectured and directed numerous theses until his retirement in 2009. He was also Director of Studies in St Malachy’s Seminary.

Fr McEvoy died on 2 October 2010 at the age of 66. He was buried in his native Larne, Co Antrim, after Requiem Mass in St Brigid’s Parish, Belfast.

Obituaries 2011

REV. HUGH SHERIDAN

Fr Hugh Sheridan was born in Lacaboy Co. Fermanagh in January 1921 and received his secondary edication with the Presentation Brothers in Enniskillen. He obtained a science degree from Queen’s University and spent a number of years teaching in St Malachy’s College Belfast before deciding to become a priest. On completion of his seminary studies he was ordained in St Patrick’s College Maynooth in 1955. His first appointment was as curate in Kilcoo (1955-1957). Other appointments in the Dicoese included Lower Mourne (1957-1961), Ballykinlar (1961-1965), Duneane (1965-1971) and Rasharkin (1971-1972). Fr Hugh then transferred to the Diocese of Motherwell in Scotland where he served for eighteen years. He retired from pastoral ministry to Kilrea in Co Derry in 1990. Fr Sheridan died on 25th May 2011 and his remains were laid to rest in the cemetery of St Mary’s Church Dunamore in the parish of Kildress in the Archdiocese of Armagh.

REV. CANON JOSEPH CUNNINGHAM DCL

Fr Joseph Cunningham was born in St Paul’s Parish on 20th April 1923. He studied in St Malachy’s College from 1935-1940 and afterwards at Queen’s University Belfast from 1940-1943 where he obtained a First Class Honours Degree in Classics. The following year (1944) while studying theology in St Patrick’s College Maynooth he continued his studies of the classics and was awarded an MA by QUB. In Maynooth he obtained First Class Honours in the B.D. (1946) and was ordained on 22nd June 1947. His post graduate studies were in the Gregorian University in Rome (1947-1950) and he was awarded a Doctorate in Canon Law.

His first appointment in the Diocese was as Professor of Classics in St Malachy’s College (1950-1969). Fr Joe was an excellent teacher. Those who encountered him in St Malachy’s speak of him with great warmth and affection as they reminisce on his teaching style and his love of the classics. In due course he also became proficient and fluent in several Eastern and Western European modern languages. He was a top class academic who could well have graced any university as a professor of languages had he not opted to become a priest.

In 1969 he was appointed Parish Priest of Drumbo and Carryduff. In 1978 he transferred to the Parish of Blaris (Lisburn) where he remained until his retirement from active ministry in 1998. During his ministry he became a member of the Dicoesan Council of Priests and in addition was Chancellor and Notary of the Diocesan Curia (1952-1991).

Canon Joseph Cunningham died peacefully at Our Lady’s Home on 4th December 2011 after a long illness. His Requiem Mass was celebrated on 7th December in St Patrick’s Church Lisburn and his remains were laid to rest in the adjacient Holy Trinity Cemetery.

Requiescat in pace.