Redemptorist News
Happy 97th Birthday Fr. Anthony Mulvey, Esker Redemptorist Community.
Fr. Anthony Mulvey C.Ss.R.
‘… like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither…’: (Psalm 1:3)
By the River Boyne: photo Seamus Devitt C.Ss.R.
We wish every blessing on our Fr. Tony Mulvey whose ninety seventh birthday is on January 30th. Born in 1922, he is as old as the State!
Fr. Tony is a Leitrim man and proud of it. A few months ago, he celebrated 75 years of being a Professed Redemptorist. He took his first vows on Sept, 8th 1943.
After his Ordination to the Priesthood in 1951, he taught in the Redemptorist College (now St. Clement’s College) Limerick, until the summer of 1970. After a short spell in Belfast, he worked in Luxembourg from the beginning of the Irish membership of the then Common Market. He spent about thirteen years as Chaplain to the English-speaking community in Luxembourg.
Soon after that, he went to Rome and spent many years there, assisting in the office of the Superior General of the Redemptorists. He retired back to our Redemptorist Community in St. Joseph’s, Dundalk, and, when that was closed for renovation almost three years ago, he moved to Esker, where he is happily ensconced, and well cared for. His mind is as sharp as ever, and he has an extraordinary memory over all the decades.
Rath Dé air, ar lá a bhreithe! God bless him, on his birthday.
Fr. Anthony Mulvey, a Redemptorist for 75 years, on September 8th, 2018.
Fr.Tony Mulvey, 96: a Redemptorist for 75 years, Sept.8, 2018
FR. ANTHONY ‘TONY’ MULVEY, C.SS.R.
Where were you, and what were you doing on September 8th, 1943? That’s a while ago, now! On that day, Feast of the Birthday of Our Lady, a young man of 21 took his first vows as a Redemptorist, in the Novitiate in Dundalk. His name was Anthony Mulvey.
Seventy five years on, this same Fr. Tony is hale and hearty, now aged 96, and residing here in Esker. He came here as a ‘refugee’ from our Dundalk Community about two years ago, when our house there was temporarily closed for restoration. He has put down his roots here and hopes to be here for some time to come!
Born in Co. Leitrim in January 1922, young Anthony went to the Redemptorist College in Limerick and completed his studies there in 1942, before going to Dundalk to do his Novitiate year. 75 years ago, this weekend, he became a professed Redemptorist. He did his early studies in Cluain Mhuire in Galway, and then went with some others to Belgium to finish his studies there.
Ordained a priest on August 26, 1951 in Galway, he soon after went to teach in the Redemptorist College (now ‘St. Clement’s) in Limerick, where he taught many of the current crop of Redemptorists in Ireland. Leaving the college in 1970 after 17 years of teaching there, he spent a time in Belfast in charge of the Novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help, and then in Dundalk, before going to Luxemburg in 1973 when Ireland joined the then ‘Common Market’. He spent twelve years there, ministering mostly to the English-speaking community, people from various countries. He then returned to work in Belfast (St. Gerard’s Parish) in ’85, before being called to Rome over a year later, in 1987, to work as translator with our General Government there. He spent 23 years there, before returning to Ireland in 2010. He has resided in Dundalk since then, until he came here to Esker about two years ago.
At 96, Fr. Tony is the oldest member of the Dublin Province of the Redemptorists. We thank him for all those 75 years of dedicated service to the Lord and his people, as a Redemptorist Missionary. Rath Dé ort, Antóin. Míle Buíochais!
P.S. He points out that, if you add his five years in the Redemptorist College as a boarder, and his year of Novitiate in Dundalk, he has spent 81 years with the Redemptorists! And he still loves us, – and prays for us!
St.Alphonsus de Liguori, Founder of the Redemptorists. Feast August 1st.
Read a short summary of the life of St. Alphonsus de Liguori: click here:
Click here to watch a short video on Youtube about Alphonsus de Liguori:
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ALPHONSUS, A MAN ON FIRE:
“Return Love for Love”
is what he said to do.
When all was said and done, this was his heart’s deep cry,-
‘return love, for love’.
Live in the Birth of Bethlehem,
walk in its stables,
smell its smells,
and then
be filled with speechless wonder
at the One Who Is,
and who is lying in the food-trough of
the beasts.
Live in the Call of Calvary,
Come back again to stand
upon that hill,
don’t run away from the awe-filled
horror as you stand
and gaze at our Messiah,-
Sent by the One who so greatly
loved the World.
Live in the shadow of its radiance.
Live in the ever-lasting gift of Eucharist,
Behold the Man! Behold the Lamb!
Behold your God, given in a wafer:
Drink in the meaning of the Cup.
‘Can you drink the cup that I must drink?’ (Mark 10:38-39)
‘We can…’ said those
two Thunder Brothers to their Lord. (Mark 3:17)
And so can we,- drink of the
overflowing cup of given life.
Return love for love.
‘Live in my love’, said He.
‘As He (my Father) has loved me, (John 15:9)
that is the very how
my love is now
for you!’
Come, live in it, and drink of it,-
Come, laugh and dance in it
with joy,-
‘so that your joy may be full’. (John 15:11)
If he has so loved us,-
then we
might live our lives,
returning love for love.
( Memories of visit to Naples-Scala, and of page 47 of Frederick Jones’ book on the writings of Alphonsus Liguori, in Classics of Western Spirituality Series..)
(Séamus.Devitt C.Ss.R)
———–
ALPHONSUS AND HIS TIMES: the 18th Century, with its writers, music, events:
Alphonsus was born 1696: just eight years after the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 in England when King James, the Catholic King, was challenged by his son-in-law, the Dutchman, William of Orange. Catholic Ireland was now under Williamite and Protestant Rule from 1691.
1705: Handel’s first Opera, Almira.
1710-11: Russia and the Ottoman Empire at war.
1715: Louis XVI dies, the end of an era.
1718: New Orleans is founded by the French.
1729-1735 Charles and John Wesley begin Methodism in England.
1730-36: Volcanic Eruptions in Lanzarotte, probably experienced in mainland Europe.
1732: Alphonsus de Liguori and his companions begin the Redemptorists, Missionary Preachers to the most abandoned, in Scala, Italy. Meanwhile, in other parts of Europe and on the N. American continent, ‘The Great Awakening’ was taking place, revivals very similar to the work of Alphonsus and his first ‘Redemptorists’.
1730’s – 1740’: From Wikipedia: ‘The Great Awakening or First Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival that swept Protestant Europe and British America in the 1730s and 1740s. An evangelical and revitalization movement, it left a permanent impact on American Protestantism. It resulted from powerful preaching that gave listeners a sense of deep personal revelation of their need of salvation by Jesus Christ. (Google ‘The Great Awakening’ for more).
- 1741: Pope Benedict XIV issues Immensa Pastorum principis against slavery. Pope Benedict approved the Rule of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer in
- 1745: Second Jacobite rising is begun by Charles Edward Stuart in Scotland.
- 1748: Discovery of the ruins of Pompei.
- 1770: James Cook claims the East Coast of Australia (New South Wales) for Great Britain.
- 1778: James Cook becomes the first European to land on the Hawaiian Islands.
- 1775–1783: American Revolutionary War.
- 1776: American Declaration of Independence.
- 1785: Clement Hofbauer and his companion are the first Redemptorists from Northern Europe, and return to Vienna and then on to Warsaw, to seek to set up the Redemptorists in those places. Alphonsus was aware of them and was delighted.
- 1787: The United States Constitution is written in Philadelphia and submitted to the states for ratification.
- 1787: Death of Alphonsus de Liguori, August 1st.
- 1789–1799: French Revolution.
- 1792: Polish–Russian War of 1792.
- 1794: Polish revolt.
Musicians of the Century:
Bach, Gluck, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Salieri, Albinoni, Boccherini, Pachalbel., Scarlatti, Stradivari, and Isaac Watts, hymn writer.
Writers of that Century: Boswell, Goethe, Robbie Burns, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, Jane Austin, Defoe, Goldsmith, Alexander Pope,
Philosophers of the Century: George Berkeley, David Hume, Edmund Burke, Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Von Schiller, Thomas Paine, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Alphonsus Liguori, Italian bishop, founder of Redemptorists, Saint.
Writings in Europe:
- 1759: Candide by Voltaire
- 1781: Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant (publication of first edition)
- 1759: The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith
Music:
- 1721: Brandenburg concertos by J.S. Bach
- 1723: The Four Seasons, violin concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, composed
- 1724: St John Passion by J.S. Bach
- 1727: St Matthew Passion composed by J.S. Bach
- 1742: Messiah, oratorio by Handel premiered in Dublin
- 1786: The Marriage of Figaro, opera by Mozart
- 1787: Don Giovanni, opera by Mozart
Through all of that period, Alphonsus first preached popular missions/ renewals in villages and towns throughout Southern Italy. Later, he wrote continuously, against the heresies and severities of Jansenism, and encouraging popular devotion among people, in language that was simple and straightforward. His major work was in the area of moral theology, counteracting the severity found among so many writers. He is the Patron of Moral Theologians. The works he loved most were short ones on prayer, on devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. His favourite among all his writings was ‘The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ’. He also wrote Visits to the Blessed Sacrament, and The Glories of Mary.
Rationalism was rampant through those decades, a ‘rationalism’ that was unreasonable in its myopic vision of human life, and in its own heresy of ‘Nothing Buttery’ – nothing but pure reason. Even philosophers like Kant critiqued this worship of ‘Pure Reason’ – see above, ‘Writings in Europe’.
Alphonsus was a man of profound compassion for humans in all their struggles. He was a man who reached out to the very edges. His love was for Christ in the most abandoned.
Séamus Devitt C.Ss.R. July 31, 2017.
St. Alphonsus Liguori: icon in Esker Redemptorist Community
—————- ALPHONSUS DID THINGS DIFFERENTLY: A Reflection.————-
Alphonsus did things differently. Yes, he might be found preaching from a pulpit in some Neapolitan church. But, just as likely, you would find him in the evenings, with his friend Gennaro Sarnelli (another young lawyer), sitting in some tavern or other and teaching the people how to have their own Evening Gatherings, for prayer and for hearing the Gospel. He worked with street urchins, and with people of every walk of life, people working down in the busy docks of Naples, soldiers off-duty, women, men, young people. Everyone was important to him. For Alfonso, God calls everyone to holiness, soldiers as soldiers, labourers as labourers, house-servants as house-servants, and so on. God is ‘pazzo per amore’ towards every human being without exception.
Crib, Cross, Eucharist, Mary: Alphonsus would look with the people in a tavern at a crib they had fashioned. He would draw out the story of it, the feelings of those involved in it, and the meaning of it for each and all of us. Or, he would have a crucifix with him and show it, and explore it, and then pray with it. So too with the Eucharist in the tabernacle: come, look, think, ponder, pray. And he did the same with images of Mary, Mother of God, which would have been all around them in their beloved city of Naples: look at her, let her look at you! He was down to earth. He was visual. He loved music and would have them singing songs of faith and joy. He didn’t have to be in a pulpit. He could preach as well – and probably a lot better – just sitting on a stool or bench in the local bar.
Alphonsus took people seriously. He took their lives and their issues and their challenges seriously. He took their consciences seriously, and helped them as best he could, to come to good honest-to-God decisions and choices. And he took their weaknesses seriously. He was a man of compassion. He wasn’t so at first as he began his ministry as priest and preacher. But, early on in his ministry as a priest, when out on the island of Procurus (in the Bay of Naples)giving a Mission, as he met people and listened to them and to their struggles, he grew in understanding of what went on in their lives, and he grew in his compassion, his feeling for them. What they needed, they told him, was Mercy, not Judgement! It was they who taught him! He showed the tenderness of God to them in Christ, in varied ways – through his words, through the way he treated them, the way he related to them in language they could immediately understand. The message he conveyed – sometimes even with words! – was of a Christ of Compassion and of a Mother of immense tenderness. He wanted them to be communities of Compassion, communities of prayer.
Later in his life, when illness prevented him from giving any more Missions, Alfonso wrote a lot. He wrote hymns. He wrote books to help priests as Confessors to people. He wrote books about prayer. His favourite, among all the more-than-one-hundred things he wrote, was ‘The Practice of the Love of Jesus Christ’. In this too, as in his various Novenas, he encourages us to gaze prayerfully at the Crib, the Cross, at Eucharist, at Mary. Alphonsus was a People Person.
Redemptorists and their co-workers try to be the same today – passionate about people, about their lives and struggles, about showing them the compassionate face of Christ, about bringing them to Mary, the Mother of the Lord. He wanted people to come and see the ‘Peace-be-with-you!’ face of Jesus.
May we be People-Persons, passionate about each human being as if the only one, and passionate about the One who came among us to lead us back home to our true selves, and to our Maker. May we, like Alfonso, come to know Christ Jesus, and be bursting to let others know about this ‘treasure’ we have found, this ‘pearl’ that we have discovered. We want the world of people to know.
The ‘Treasure’ that he found? People and the wonder of them.
Jesus of Nazareth, Son of Mary, Son of God, our very human brother and saviour.
God’s love for us – for each and every human.
The Universal call to holiness, to walk with God, to talk with God.
The simplicity and profundity of the Gospel – the crib, Cross, Eucharist, Mary.
The simplicity and profundity of our Sunday Mass: quiet, still, and deep.
Alphonsus’ was filled with the same Holy Spirit as you and me. He responded with great love, with total abandon. Will we?
‘RETURN LOVE FOR LOVE’ – the heart of all his spirituality.
Séamus Devitt C.Ss.R., July 2017.
———–
From A Message to Redemptorists worldwide, for this Feastday August 1, 2017, from our Superior General, Fr. Michael Brehl C.Ss.R. He concludes his letter:
‘In communion with the whole Church, guided by the leadership of Pope Francis, we commit ourselves to the theme of this sexennium: WITNESSES OF THE REDEEMER: In Solidarity for Mission to a Wounded World.
May God bless us with the grace as genuine disciples of St. Alphonsus to follow Christ the Redeemer with hearts full of joy. Denying ourselves and always ready to undertake what is demanding, may we share fully in the mystery of Christ and proclaim it Gospel simplicity of life and language, that we may bring to people the gift of plentiful redemption (cf. Cons. 20)
May our Mother of Perpetual Help accompany us always.
Your brother in our Redeemer,
Michael Brehl CSsR
Death of Fr. Louis Eustace C.Ss.R., Thursday Nov. 30th, 2017.
Fr. Louis Eustace, C.Ss.R. +Nov. 30, 2017, Dundalk, Ireland.
We regret to announce that the death has occurred, on Thursday, November 30th, of Fr. Louis Eustace, Redemptorist, who passed away after more than three years in a Nursing Home, following a stroke. May he rest in peace.
Fr. Louis was a member of the Redemptorist Community of St. Joseph’s,
in Dundalk, Co. Louth, Ireland, since the 1980’s. He was the well-known preacher (and singer) at the weekly Novena to the Mother of Perpetual Help, which he conducted faithfully for many years, until his illness in 2014.
Louis was born in Co. Longford, in NewtownCashel, on November 5th, 1935. He attended St. Clement’s College (then known as the Redemptorist College) for his second-level education. He then entered the Redemptorist Novitiate in Esker in 1953, was Professed 1954. He did his studies for the priesthood in Cluain Mhuire, Galway, where he was ordained a priest on January 21, 1962.
Soon he was sent with others to the Philippine Islands, where he ministered on Parish Missions and then in St. Clement’s College until about 1969, when he returned to Ireland.
Fr. Louis was in the first group of Irish Redemptorists to go to the Diocese of Springfield Massachusetts in Autumn 1970. He ministered in the Parish of Our Lady of Hope, on what was known as ‘Hungry Hill’, for four years, in a parish that then consisted of very many Kerry people, especially from Dingle and Ballyferriter and parts West. (Others who travelled with him or after him included Fr. John V Corbett C.Ss.R. , Fr. Seán Horgan C.Ss.R., Fr. Séamus Devitt C.Ss.R., later Fr. John Moran C.Ss.R, Fr. Denis Canny C.Ss.R., Fr. Séan Bennett C.Ss.R., Fr. Jackie Whyte C.Ss.R.).
Fr. Louis returned to Ireland about 1974, and was very involved in the Mother of Perpetual Help Solemn Novena Ministry, all over Ireland, for over ten years, along with the late Fr. Vincent Kavanagh and others.
Since the mid-80’s, Fr. Louis had been a much-loved member of the Redemptorist Community and Parish in St. Joseph’s Dundalk. He was a man of great humour and wit, with always the kind heart for people.
His Redemptorist confreres tell many stories about him and remember him with great affection. Those among whom he ministered have also many fond memories of him.
Fr. Louis was predeceased by his brothers Andy and Kieran. He is deeply regretted by his loving sister Eithne Kane, brothers Des (Shannon) and Gerry (Birmingham), extended family, relatives, friends, Redemptorist Community and Confreres.
His funeral took place on Saturday, Dec. 2nd, in Dundalk.
May he rest in peace. Rath Dé air! – may the blessing of God be with him.
Death of Fr. Pat Reynolds, C.Ss.R.
We regret to announce the death of Fr. Pat Reynolds, Redemptorist, who died peacefully at Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, today, Wednesday November 22nd 2017, at 4.40am.
Fr. Pat was Rector here in Esker Community from about 1999 to 2005.
————
Fr. Patrick (Pat) C.Ss.R., died on 22nd November 2017, in the care of the staff of Our Lady’s Hospice Harold’s Cross.
Formally of Mungret, Co. Limerick, the Philippines and Cherry Orchard Parish Ballyfermot. Predeceased by his brother Fr. Gerry C.Ss.R. and deeply missed by his brother Michael (Mungret), sister Noreen (England), sister-in-law Kathleen, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews, relatives and many friends in Ireland and the Philippines and his Redemptorist Confreres.
Funeral Arrangements
Reposing in the Church of the Most Holy Sacrament, Cherry Orchard, Ballyfermot,
from 3 to 6.45pm on Thursday 23rd November followed by a
Celebration of the Eucharist at 7.00pm
Removal immediately afterwards to Mount St. Alphonsus Church Limerick.
Funeral Mass will take place at 12.00 noon on Friday 24th November followed by
Burial in the Redemptorist Community Plot in Castlemungret Cemetery.
May he rest in peace.
———-
Fr. Pat was Rector here in Esker from 1999 to 2005. He was well known and loved in the local community, because he knew so many people by name.
For some years past, he has been based in CherryOrchard Parish, in Ballyfermot, in Dublin, until illness in the past few years kept him away from his parish for a good period. Following a remission, he returned to the parish there, and until quite recently ministered there again.
He was ordained in the Philippine Islands on December 1963, along with two others, John Goode and Tom Devitt. He ministered there until 1982, when he returned to Ireland for what was to be a holiday. However, we was asked to take over the office of Prefect of Students in Cluain Mhuire in January 1983, and, though his heart was still in the Philippines, he very generously accepted and took on the office for several years, possibly until about 1990.
For a time, he worked in Scala, in our Youth Ministry Community there in Blackrock, and then more recently, in CherryOrchard Parish.
Much loved by all, he will be deeply missed by his family and by his Redemptorist Community, in Ireland and in the Philippines. He will be deeply missed by all who knew him during his time in CherryOrchard Parish.
Go móide Teaghlach Dé dá anam! May his soul increase the household of Heaven!
What Milo (7) in Esker showed me about the Icon
Milo's Photo of a detail of the Icon
Milo and his Mom and his Grandmother were in Esker on the last day of the visit of the Pilgrim Icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help, in April 2016. His response to the icon and his photograph of it, opened up a whole new understanding for me of the meaning of the Icon. Follow the story in this six-minute video released by Redemptorist Communications on June 1st, 2017 as the Novena season began.
Click here to view the video ‘Mother of Perpetual Help – Reflection on the Icon’ by Séamus Devitt C.Ss.R.
Séamus Devitt C.Ss.R., Esker.
The Pilgrim Icon (April 2106) just before leaving Esker. Here's where Milo took his own photo.
Milo, with his Mom, Grandmother and Fr. Seamus Devitt
MBSR – MindfulnessBased Stress Reduction: Tuesdays. CANCELLED
THIS COURSE IS CANCELLED FOR THE TIME BEING: FEBRUARY 2017
MBSR stands for Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and is an 8 session course, each Tuesday morning from February 7th from 10am to 12.30pm, and a one-day retreat (Saturday March 11) run by Dr. Sue Redmond PhD.
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction - this 8 week course and 1 day retreat enables participants to experience the benefits that mindfulness has in helping to slow down, pay attention and capture the precious moments in our lives.
Who will facilitate this course? Dr. Sue Redmond PhD
Sue has a PhD from the School of Political Science & Sociology based in Galway, in the area of Leadership, Resilience & Social Support amongst Youth.
Sue has practiced meditation for over 10 years. She teaches and is passionate about mindfulness. She completed her training in MBSR/MBCT with the Institute for Mindfulness Based Approaches. She also holds a MA in Health Education & Promotion, Dip in Youth & Community Work, Dip in Executive & Business Coaching and Degree in Science (Pharmacology, Biochemistry & Psychology).
What will participants learn? This is what Dr. Sue says about it:’This 8-week courses introduces participants to different forms of mindfulness practice including: sitting meditation, mindful eating awareness of physical sensations and gentle mindful movement Research shows that mindfulness helps manage stress anxiety, depression, illness pain, improve performance and lead to significant improvements in well-being‘
Participants learn, over those weeks, how to find peace in a sometimes frantic world; it is for those who want to free themselves of anxiety and stress. It reveals a set of practices, very simple yet powerful, that you can incorporate into your everyday life, to break the cycle of anxiety, stress, even exhaustion. You find a new joy in life, by learning how to be present to yourself, to what goes on within you, and skills that allow you meet the challenges that come your way, with new-found courage. It helps us in our struggles to keep up with the many demands of life that come our way.
A few skills, and a few minutes here and there in the day to practise them, gives us new confidence and a more relaxed way of dealing with what each day may throw at us.
When is it held? On eight consecutive Tuesday Mornings from 10.00 to 12.30, beginning Tuesday February 7th. It will also include a day retreat Saturday 11th March 9.30am to 4pm.
Where will the event take place? In Esker Retreat Centre, near Athenry. Contact Secretary 091 844007.
Prerequisites: Just come as you are, ready and open.
Cost: €250 total.
Contact Dr. Sue Redmond with any questions, on 086 8102770
or Contact Esker Retreat Centre, Secretary 091 844007, or email info@redemptoristsesker.ie.
Death of Fr. Tommy Byrne, C.Ss.R, Esker
Yesterday, October 26th, we buried for tommy Byrne, in our Esker Community Cemetery. There was a great turnout of local Esker folk, of Redemptorists, of local priests and religious, and Bishop John Kirby presided at the funeral Mass.As his coffin was being wheeled down the aisle after Mass, someone noticed how so many men, particularly, reached out and touched his coffin as a gesture of love and thanks.
Fr. Tommy had died on Monday morning last, Oct. 24th, after a brief illness, in Portiuncula Hospital about 9am. May he rest in peace.
Today, October 27th, would have been his 78th birthday.
Fr. Tommy was out for a meal Sunday afternoon with a close friend, to anticipate his upcoming 78th birthday.
Fr. Tommy was born on 28 October 1938 in Kenmare but grew up in Killarney. He entered the novitiate in 1957, unfortunately his mother died tragically on January 15th, 1958 in the collapse of Carmody’s Hotel, Ennis. Some time later Tommy left the novitiate and worked for a few years as a bank clerk. In 1962 he rejoined the novitiate and in lieu of his previous stint as a novice the date of his profession was brought forward to 28 March 1963. He was ordained on 15 September 1968.
Funeral Arrangements:
Arrival at Redemptorist Monastery, Esker, Tuesday, October 25th at 4.00pm
Removal to adjacent church at 7.00pm
Funeral Mass on Wednesday, October 26th, at noon.
———
Fr. Tommy Byrne was born in Killarney, but his family later moved to Kilrush in Co. Clare. He went to Secondary School at the Redemptorist College, Limerick (now known as St. Clement’s College).
After his ordination in 1968, he worked in the new Retreat House in Cluain Mhuire for some time. Later, he worked in St. Clement’s Belfast on the Retreat House Staff, was very involved all his life in ministry to couples preparing for Marriage, both in Belfast and later in Esker. He was in charge of the Esker Retreat House for some years in the late eighties. About 2001, he moved to Limerick and was very involved for quite some years with Doras, a welcome centre for refugees and asylum seekers. In 2011, he moved to Esker, and has worked on the team there and been part of the community there, both in the Retreat House and in other works. His health has deteriorated over the past four or five years, but, even though he was ill and struggling, his death was a surprise when it came so quickly, – after just a few hours in Portiuncula Hospital in Ballinasloe.
The hardest thing for Fr.Tommy over these past few years was his frustration at being unable to work as much as he would like. His heart was always full of zeal for people; he was a man of great prayer, and his quiet and warm smile was a great feature of the welcome he gave to so many who came to Esker. He will be missed by his colleagues who worked with him in Pre-Marriage weekends, and in the Bethany Bereavement weekends. May God rest is dear soul, so dedicated to God and to people.
Fr. Tommy worked in the Dioceses of Springfield Massachusetts almost every summer for the past thirty years, ministering in parishes there both around Westfield and in Pittsfield. He had many friends there.
(And as a young man, before he came back to the Redemptorists after a few years’ break, he was a very keen golfer, and even took part in the South of Ireland. That he could not achieve such standards in later years was always a source of frustration for him. He still wanted to wallop that ball down the middle. May the fairways of heaven be wide and generous for him now.)
Rath Dé ar a anam dílis.
Death of Fr. Brian Foley, C.Ss.R., September 11.
Fr. Brian Foley, C.Ss.R.
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of one of our Esker Redemptorist Community, Fr. Brian Foley. He died at noon today, Sunday September 11, in University College Hospital Galway. Fr. Michael O’Flynn was with him at the time. With him also was Sr Immaculate, Mercy Sister, long-time friend and carer to Fr. Brian, and some members of Brian’s family.
Funeral Arrangements: Arrival at Redemptorist Monastery, Esker, on Monday at 4.00 o’clock.
Removal to the church at 7.00pm.
Funeral Mass on Tuesday at 12.00 noon.
Burial afterwards in the Community Cemetery.
Mother of Perpetual Help pray for him.
Fr. Brian was born 4th December 1932, made his First Profession as a Redemptorist on September 24, 1953, and was ordained a priest on September 20th, 1959. He ministered as a Redemptorist in Ireland, all his life, working for a time in the Retreat House in Limerick, working on Parish Missions, School Retreats, and, since about 1980, in Esker Retreat House and Monastery. For the past ten years or so, he has been in a nursing home, most recently in Flannery’s Nursing Home in Abbeyknockmoy, Co. Galway.
Just two weeks ago, he began to decline and has spent the past two weeks in the wonderful care of the staff at UCHG.
Brian was pre-deceased by his twin-brother Seán, who died in 2002, and is buried in Esker.
‘The one who made us smile’ - we all of us remarked, over and over again through these
past years, that whenever one went to visit Fr. Brian, you came away with a smile on your face. There was a quiet radiance about Brian, a depth within him, that was a blessing and a joy to whomever went to visit him. He was wonderfully cared for, these past years, by the staff at Flannery’s, and by Sr. Immaculate, his great friend of many years, and we are most grateful for this. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal! Tá sé imithe ar leac na firinne!
Funeral arrangements as above:
Please pray for the happy repose of the soul of Fr. Brian Foley, C.Ss.R. Esker who died today, Sunday, 11th September 2016, about Noon, in University Hospital Galway With Brian when he died were Sr. Immaculata who has been a friend of Brian since making a retreat in Esker in the 1970s and who has visited him daily since he went into the nursing home, Also present were his sister-in-law Gertie, wife of Pearse, their daughter Sinéad, who arrived yesterday and Fr. Michael O’Flynn of the Esker community. Funeral arrangements later R. I. P. Fr. Brian Foley Born: 4th December 1932 Professed 24 September 1953 Ordained 20 September 1959
Death of Fr Pat Egan C.Ss.R.
The death has occurred today, July 9th, at c. 5pm of Fr. Patrick Egan, Redemptorist and
member of the Esker Community. He died in University Hospital Galway, after a couple of weeks of illness. May he rest in peace. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam uasal.
Fr. Pat was from Barnacarroll, near Claremorris, in Co. Mayo. He was born on 20 July 1923, and so was just eleven days short of his 93rd birthday. He was professed as a Redemptorist on 3 October 1943 in Dundalk; he was ordained priest 27 August 1950, in Cluain Mhuire, Galway.
Along with him on that day were ordained the following: Frs. Paddy Breen †2013; Francis Mullaghy †2006; Dan Murphy †1976; Jim O’Connor †2016; and Fr. Brendan Boland who is now a member of the Edmonton-Toronto Province.
Fr. Pat spent all his life as a Redemptorist in Ireland, giving parish missions the length and breadth
Fr. Pat Egan C.Ss.R.
of the country. He spent some years in Clonard Monastery, in Belfast, and was in charge of the Men’s Confraternity there when the ‘Troubles’ broke out in August 1969. He worked a great deal in the Gaeltacht areas of the West of Ireland, often with Fr. Frank Mullaghy, another Gaeilgeoir.
Funeral arrangements as follows:
The death has occurred of Father Pat Egan, C.Ss.R., Redemptorist Community, Esker, Athenry, County Galway. (Peacefully) at University Hospital Galway City. Deeply missed by his nieces and nephews (the Columban Fathers Pat and Séamus) and extended Egan and Denvir familes, his Redemptorist confrères, friends, and the many people touched and inspired by his ministry.
Arrival at Redemptorist Monastery, Esker, on Monday 4.00pm.
Removal to church at 7.00pm.
Funeral Mass on Tuesday, July 12th, at 12.00 noon.
Burial afterwards in the Community Cemetery.
Suaimhneas síoraí tabhair dó a Dhia. Go raibh leaba agat, a Phádraig, i measc na naoimh.
Mother of Perpetual Help pray for him.
A Redemptorist Ireland Website