Bishop praises priest’s ‘tremendous work’ in parish

PARISHIONERS gathered in St Joseph’s Church, Kildress last Wednesday morning for a Requiem Mass in memory of a beloved parish priest who served the area faithfully for 18 years.

Very Rev Fr Owen O’Donnell passed away peacefully at his home on Monday, June 5. He served firstly as administrator and then as parish priest of Kildress until his retirement in 2005.

In a service led by Archbishop Eamon Martin, Fr O’Donnell was described as man with a mischievous sense of humour who was blessed with a great sense of fun and great wit of which Pope Francis would approve.

During the service, the Archbishop continued, “In his tenure as parish priest of Kildress, he did tremendous work, having built the Parochial House and Church which was dedicated to St Joseph and opened in 1996.

“He was very proud of the fact that, upon his retirement, the parish had substantial money in the bank, earmarked for the refurbishment of St Mary’s Church in Dunnamore.

“But behind all those skills, he was truly a pastoral priest and a man of prayer and personal holiness.

“He was renowned as an exceptionally good preacher who could engage with people of all ages and get his message across with clarity and precision with his brief but memorable homilies.

“During his years of retirement, he proved that he was a priest forever, with his door always opened for the people of his parish.”

Upon Father O’Donnell’s retirement, the parish wrote him what was described as a “beautiful letter” in which they spoke of how the priesthood was privileged to have his service for 48 years, but they as parishioners feel more blessed to have had him as their parish priest for the previous 18 years.

The Archbishop concluded by describing Father O’Donnell as “Christ-like in his attitude and demeanour”.