March 1
FR. PETER LEDDY was from St. Paul’s parish, Belfast, Ireland where he was born in 1911. He died at Blanchardstown Hospital, Dublin, on March 1, 1993. Having completed his secondary education at St. Malachy’s College, Belfast, Father Peter went to Dalgan in 1929 where he was ordained priest by Bishop Galvin on December 21, 1935. Appointed to China, he studied Chinese at the Shanghai Language School and thereafter worked in the Diocese of Hanyang. In 1948 he was appointed to the United States and worked in the Retreat House, Derby, and at Silver Creek. In 1955, Father Peter went to the Philippines where he served in a number of parishes in the Diocese of Ozamis. Ill health forced him to retire to Ireland in 1982 and he spent the remainder of his life with the sick and retired community in Dalgan. He is buried at Dalgan.
Fr. Peter in his younger days
March 3
FR. EDWARD A. ALLEN was born in Dublin in 1906. He died in Batang, Philippines on March 3, 2001 having been incapacitated by a stroke three years earlier. Having received his early education at O’Connell Schools, Dublin, Father Eddie joined the Columbans and was ordained priest at Dalgan in December 1930. He was assigned to study Canon Law in Rome and having received his DCL he taught Moral Theology at St. Columbans, Nebraska, where he was Rector [1939-1947]. Assigned to the Philippines in 1949, Father Eddie spent the next 52 years working in Negros, with the exception of a four year [1951-55] stint as secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio in Manila. He is buried at Kabankalan.
March 4
FR. ANDREW O’BRIEN, a nephew of Columban, Fr. John P. O’Brien (’20), was born in Cork City, Ireland in 1926. He died peacefully on March 4, 2008 at the Dalgan Nursing Home. Having received his secondary education at Christian Brothers’ College, Cork City, he came to Dalgan in 1944 and was ordained there in 1950. Assigned to the Philippines in 1951, Fr Andrew spent the next 20 years on the island of Mindanao where he served in various parishes. He was appointed to the Irish Region in 1969 and for the next eighteen years he assisted in various parishes both in Ireland and in Britain. His health had never been very robust and he retired to Dalgan in 1987 where he worked in the farm office. Fr. Andrew will be remembered as a man of prayer and deep faith, who had a great devotion to Our Blessed Mother and to the Rosary. He is buried at Dalgan.
March 5
FR. CHARLES DEGNAN was born on August 30, 1916 in Chicago, USA and died in Rhode Island Hospital on March 5, 2012. He attended St. Raphael’s School, Chicago before studying at Silver Creek and Bristol, USA from 1931 to 1938. Fr. Charlie was ordained priest in St John’s Cathedral, Buffalo, New York on December 18, 1943. He worked in Chicago during the war years and was assigned to the Philippines in 1948. He returned to the US in 1951 working on promotion in New York, Chicago and San Diego. From 1971 to 1978 he worked in the Virgin Islands, starting a new parish there, before returning to Chicago for assignments of Mission Education, of Vicar and House superior. Fr. Charlie went to Bristol, Rhode Island in 2008. He is predeceased by his two Columban brothers, Frs. Fran and Bob. Fr. Charlie is buried in Worth Illinois, USA.
