June 9
FR. FRANCIS M. AWBURN was born in Wodonga, Victoria, Australia, in 1928. He died suddenly on June 9, 1993 in his parish of Matain, Zambales, Philippines. Having completed his secondary education at St. Patrick’s College, Ballarat, Australia, Father Frank entered St. Columban’s, Nth. Essendon in 1946 where he studied philosophy and then went to Dalgan, Ireland to study theology. He was ordained priest there on December 21, 1953. Assigned to the Philippines, he worked in Zambales for forty years, spending a brief period [1957-58] in Malate parish, in Manila. He was on mission promotion in Australia from 1969-72 after which he returned to Zambales where he became Superior in 1989. Father Frank is buried at Santa Rita, Olongapo City. He was re-interred in St. Columban’s Church, Olongapo City.
FR. EAMONN MORAN was born in 1938 at Suncroft, County Kildare, Ireland. He died suddenly on June 9, 1992 at St. Benedict’s Parish, in Merthyr Vale, Wales. Having completed his secondary studies at St. Joseph’s College, Ballinasloe [1951-57], Father Eamonn entered Dalgan seminary and was ordained priest there by Bishop Patrick Cleary on December 22, 1963. His first appointment was to the Philippines in 1964 where for the next 20 years he worked in Mindanao. He left the Philippines in 1984 for medical reasons and did pastoral work in Ireland and Wales. Father Eamonn is buried at Dalgan Park.
June 11
FR. JOHN MORAN was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1926 and graduated from LaSalle Academy there in 1943. He was only 17 when he joined the Columban Fathers that same year. After seven years in the Seminary, he was ordained in 1950. By December of the following year he was on mission in the Philippines, and by age 26 was the parish priest of Santa Cruz in Zambales Province on the island of Luzon, the Philippines. Creativity has been one of the hallmarks of Father John. In the 1950s he discovered that the Zambal language had little in the way of literature at that time and that there were few Catholic books printed in the language to help the people know and practice their faith. So he set to work and produced a catechism and prayer-book printed in Zambal. Between 1959 and 1967, he was in the United States doing mission promotion and vocation work, and served as the spiritual director at Silver Creek, New York, the Columban Seminary on the shores of Lake Erie. Again, his creativity expressed itself. He decided that in addition to counseling the young men he would introduce them to boat building and sailing. They built several small sailboats on a shoestring budget. As you know, sailing is not a cheap hobby, and when the seminary boats needed sails, Fr. John solved the problem by using government surplus nylon cloth. It was a perfect solution except that it was black nylon. So, in the early 1960s, if you saw black sails on the Lake Erie horizon, it was not pirates, just the Columban seminary fleet. He returned to the Philippines for another 25 years in Luzon. In 1968, with the help of the US Navy he founded a Boys Town near Olongapo. In 1988 as chaplain of the the Acoje mines he set up a cooperative making jewellery made from jade. Then in 1992 at the venerable age of 66 he had seven years as socius in St. Columban’s Formation House in Cebu. A fall and hip injury forced him to retire to St Elizabeth’s Manor. He died there on 11 June 2021
June 15
FR. MARTIN RYAN was born on January 23, 1929 at Muckalee, County Kilkenny, Ireland. He was ordained on December 21, 1953 and went to Mindanao in the Philippines where he worked in Gingoog, Dumalinao, Mambajao, Linamon, Maigo and Corpus Christi, Iligan City. In the 1980s, Father Martin became aware that he had a drinking problem and asked for treatment at Guest House, Minnesota, USA. He knew that alcoholism causes great suffering to many Filipino families and with the help of Filipina Columban Sister Regina Bernad, he founded a treatment center in Ozamiz City called, “IT WORKS”. When he was sure that it could continue without him, he returned to Ireland. Father Martin was blessed with a child-like directness and simplicity. The accidental death of his brother, and fellow Columban, Lar, in October 1995 was a very heavy blow. With a passion for hurling he was always anxious for news about the fortunes of Kilkenny and of St. Martin’s, Ireland. He died at St. Columban’s Retirement Home, Navan on June 15, 2018 and was buried in Muckalee.
June 16
FR. BRENDAN CARTY was born at Rathkenny, County Meath, Ireland in 1921. He died suddenly at Bacolod Hospital, Philippines on June 16, 1958. Father Brendan was educated at St. Patrick’s Academy, Navan and St. Finian’s College, Mullingar, both in Ireland. He came to Dalgan in 1940 and was ordained priest in 1946. He was appointed to China where he studied Chinese at Peking. Due to the turbulent political situation in China, Father Brendan was transferred to the Philippines where he filled the roles of bursar and pastor. He had gone to Bacolod Hospital with a severe headache. He died there not long after receiving a blood transfusion. Cerebral hemorrhage was the suspected cause of his death. Father Brendan is buried at Binalbagan, Negros, Philippines.
FR. JEROME HALLIDEN was one of five in the Halliden family who followed a religious vocation. Fathers Jerome, William and Donal joined the Columbans, while their late brother Patrick was a priest of the Cloyne Diocese in Ireland and Sr. Immaculata was a member of the Mercy Order. Father Jerome was born in 1917 at Banteer, County Cork. Having received his secondary education at St. Colman’s College, Fermoy in Ireland he went to Dalgan seminary in 1936 and was a member of the first class to be ordained at Dalgan Park, Navan, in 1941. World War 2 prevented him from going on overseas mission so he worked in Cloyne Diocese ‘til 1946 when he went to Huzhou, China. Assigned to vocations work in Ireland in 1952, he was appointed to the Philippines in 1959 where he served in Mindanao District and also as secretary to Bishop Patrick Cronin. He later acted in a similar position at Columban HQ, Dublin, from 1985 to 1997, when he retired to Dalgan, where he died on June 16, 2005. Father Jerome is buried at Dalgan Park.
