Follow Me Back to Carlow
A Rathvilly born priest has returned home to his native Carlow after a
ministry that has spanned more than 64 years on this side of the water.
Father Liam Fanning, who celebrates his 90th birthday this month, completed his studies in County Kilkenny and was ordained at Piltown in June 1942.
He worked at parishes in London and Liverpool, but most of his ministry has been spent in the Forest of Dean alongside the Welsh border.
Coleford, at the heart of his parish, was undergoing a transformation when Father Liam first came to the small Gloucestershire town of during the 1960s - the coal mines had been worked out and unemployment was a major problem in the area.
The Carlow man never shunned a challenge and has left behind a lasting legacy to his parishioners – a new church was built at nearby Sedbury in 1988 to replace the Nissin hut that had been made into a chapel by prisoners of war.
He raised the bulk of the money through a series of newspaper appeals and there was enough left over to construct a parish hall in Coleford.
The Forest of Dean air obviously agrees with the Carlow priest – blessed with a thick mane of white hair, he remains sprightly and does not use his glasses when he reads out the Gospel at Sunday Mass.
“I was lucky that I always stayed slim and fit with good health,” Father Liam explained.
“I used to smoke, but gave them up and never drank very much.”
And you sense that the priest would be happy to carry on his work for a few more years – he still gets behind the wheel on occasions although his housekeeper now does most of the driving.
A man of the people in every sense, he greets all his parishioners individually as they come through the door and the warmth of his welcome is reciprocated.
“I don’t like any fuss and there is no need for the parish to go to any trouble just because I’m leaving,” he adds.
But that plea fell on deaf ears and the send off reflected the esteem with which he has been held.
Mayo native Annie Kear said he would be greatly missed.
She said, “He has done so much for this parish and will be an impossible act to follow.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Wexford couple Graham and Margaret Yeats.
“He married us 42 years ago and the place won’t seem the same without him,” added Graham.
Unlike most of the Irish priests on this side of the water, golf never interested him.
“That was too slow a game, I’d rather watch a decent GAA match,” he said.
He gained a reputation as a skilled angler and hopes to do some more fishing when he returns home.
Also gaining a well earned rest is fellow Carlow native Helen Byrne, who has been Father Liam’s housekeeper for the past 38 years. She is also returning to Ireland.
© Peter Foley. This article was first publish in the Irish Post.
Useful URL : http://www.irishpost.co.uk
Father Liam Fanning, who celebrates his 90th birthday this month, completed his studies in County Kilkenny and was ordained at Piltown in June 1942.
He worked at parishes in London and Liverpool, but most of his ministry has been spent in the Forest of Dean alongside the Welsh border.
Coleford, at the heart of his parish, was undergoing a transformation when Father Liam first came to the small Gloucestershire town of during the 1960s - the coal mines had been worked out and unemployment was a major problem in the area.
The Carlow man never shunned a challenge and has left behind a lasting legacy to his parishioners – a new church was built at nearby Sedbury in 1988 to replace the Nissin hut that had been made into a chapel by prisoners of war.
He raised the bulk of the money through a series of newspaper appeals and there was enough left over to construct a parish hall in Coleford.
The Forest of Dean air obviously agrees with the Carlow priest – blessed with a thick mane of white hair, he remains sprightly and does not use his glasses when he reads out the Gospel at Sunday Mass.
“I was lucky that I always stayed slim and fit with good health,” Father Liam explained.
“I used to smoke, but gave them up and never drank very much.”
And you sense that the priest would be happy to carry on his work for a few more years – he still gets behind the wheel on occasions although his housekeeper now does most of the driving.
A man of the people in every sense, he greets all his parishioners individually as they come through the door and the warmth of his welcome is reciprocated.
“I don’t like any fuss and there is no need for the parish to go to any trouble just because I’m leaving,” he adds.
But that plea fell on deaf ears and the send off reflected the esteem with which he has been held.
Mayo native Annie Kear said he would be greatly missed.
She said, “He has done so much for this parish and will be an impossible act to follow.”
Those sentiments were echoed by Wexford couple Graham and Margaret Yeats.
“He married us 42 years ago and the place won’t seem the same without him,” added Graham.
Unlike most of the Irish priests on this side of the water, golf never interested him.
“That was too slow a game, I’d rather watch a decent GAA match,” he said.
He gained a reputation as a skilled angler and hopes to do some more fishing when he returns home.
Also gaining a well earned rest is fellow Carlow native Helen Byrne, who has been Father Liam’s housekeeper for the past 38 years. She is also returning to Ireland.
© Peter Foley. This article was first publish in the Irish Post.
Useful URL : http://www.irishpost.co.uk
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