March 10

FR. JOHN LEAHY was born near Loughrea, County Galway, Ireland in 1932. He died at Middlesex Hospital, England on March 10, 1977.  Father John studied [1945-50] at De La Salle College, Loughrea, County Galway before becoming a Post Office clerk. In 1954, he entered Dalgan seminary where he was ordained priest in 1960. He was assigned to the Philippines and worked in Mindanao until he was forced to return home in 1976 for a serious operation. Father John is buried at Dalgan Park.

FR. PATRICK RONAN was born in 1919 at Kilmanagh, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland. He died on 10 March 1991 at Dalgan. Paddy received his secondary education at St. Kieran’s College, Kilkenny from 1933 to 1939. He then entered Dalgan and was ordained priest in 1944. Having worked in Ireland for a year, he went to Huzhou, China (1946-1953). He was imprisoned for ‘subversive activity’ in 1952 and expelled in 1953. From 1955, he was assistant to Aedan McGrath in promoting the Legion of Mary in England. Assigned to the Philippines in 1963, he worked in Morong and in Student Catholic Action in Manila. When he was diagnosed with lung cancer, he returned to Ireland in 1990. Father Paddy is buried in Dalgan.

March 11

FR. RICHARD CANNON was born in 1928 at Buffalo, New York. He died in a Los Angeles hospital on March 11, 2002. Father Dick had a varied and fruitful life. His first contact with Columbans was in 1944 at Silver Creek. Part of his formation for priesthood was at Dalgan seminary as an exchange-student. After ordination at Milton in 1954, he obtained his doctorate in Canon Law in Rome and then taught at Silver Creek and Milton, USA until 1963 when he was appointed to a Columban school in Whitby, England. He graduated June 1960 from Boston College with a B.A. in Mathematics.  With the closure of Whitby, Father Dick was assigned to the Philippines where “he saw education as the way out of the poverty trap and laboured to provide the best facilities for high school and college”.  From 1975 to 1983 he was Director at St. Columban’s College, Olongapo. He spent almost thirty years in Zambales where he was District Superior for two terms. From 1995 he served as Regional Bursar for five years. He returned to the U.S. in 2001 where he was house bursar in Los Angeles. Burial was at Silver Creek, New York.

FR. PETER KENNY was ordained priest on 22 December 1958. After ordination he was sent for post-graduate studies in Canon Law in Rome. Having acquired his Licentiate in 1961, he was assigned to the Philippines, in the parishes of San Narciso and San Antonio, Zambales, where he served for the following six years. After this first term, he was appointed a member of the staff at St Columban’s College, Navan. In 1974 he was re-appointed to the Philippines, and spent the next twenty years in the parishes of Santa Rita, St Joseph and San Jose Ruiz, Olongapo City. The last four years of this period of Father Peter’s life were dedicated to working with the indigenous Aetas in Poonbato. From 1995 to 2003, he served in Mission Awareness in Australia. In 2003, he moved to Los Angeles to continue the same ministry from the Columban house, where he served for fifteen years. During this time, his eyesight deteriorated and he faced several health problems. In 2018, he moved to the Retirement Home in Dalgan, where he settled in well and remained an active member of the community despite his poor eyesight. He died suddenly and unexpectedly on 11 March 2020 at Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan.

March 13

FR. WILLIAM GODSIL was born in Cork City, Ireland in 1920. He died suddenly at Dalgan on March 13, 1999. He was educated by the Presentation Brothers prior to going to Dalgan Seminary where he was ordained on December 21, 1945. Assigned to China, Father Liam spent three years as diocesan secretary to Bishop Galvin in Hanyang. He was expelled by the Chinese Communist regime in 1949 and went to the Philippines where he worked for almost forty years in various roles – secretary to the Apostolic Nuncio, secretary to Bishop Cronin in Ozamis, Student Chaplaincy and Regional Bursar. He did pastoral work in Mindanao and Zambales. His parish of Pili was devastated by the Mt. Pinatubo volcano in 1991. Father Liam also spent a brief period (1972-73) in the regional offices in N. Essendon. He retired to Ireland from the Philippines in 1992 and is buried at Dalgan Park.

FR. DESMOND HARTFORD died peacefully, after a long illness, at Dalgan on March 13, 2004. Born at Lusk, County Dublin, Ireland, Father Des did his secondary studies at De La Salle College, Skerries, and entered Dalgan Seminary in 1961. After ordination at the Pro-Cathedral, Dublin in 1967, he was assigned to the Philippines “whose people taught me much about life and love, patience and generosity.” He undertook the difficult task of molding better relations between the Muslim and minority-Christian communities. Elected as a member of the General Council in 1988, he was called in 1991 to serve as Apostolic Administrator of Marawi. Kidnapped in 1997 and held hostage for 12 days by rebel returnees, he experienced “that powerlessness is often the occasion of the Lord’s strength.” In his final illness Father Des gave “an eloquent witness of patience, courage and serenity.” Burial was at Dalgan Park.

March 14

FR. JOHN CLIFFORD was born in Chicago in 1927. He died on March 14, 2006 at San Diego, California.  After his studies at St. Leo’s, Collegeville, Father Jack began his preparations for priesthood at Bristol [1947-‘48], Omaha [1948-‘50], Dalgan Seminary [1950-‘53] and Milton [1953-‘54].  After ordination in 1953, he did a Credit Union Course in the University of Wisconsin. Appointed to the Philippines, Father Jack served in Zambales, Negros and Malate. Assigned to the U.S. in 1984, he worked briefly with the Philippine Apostolate in Chicago and then transferred to San Diego for parish work. Father Jack is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, San Diego, California.

March 15

FR. PATRICK CAMPION was born at Rathdowney, County Laois, Ireland in 1924. He died of a heart attack in Pagadian, Philippines on March 15, 1989. Having studied at St. Kieran’s College, Kilkenny, Ireland, Father Pat entered Dalgan Seminary in 1942 and was ordained priest there in 1948.  He was assigned to the Philippines and worked in Mindanao until he was elected Vicar General at the 1970 Chapter. After the 1976 Chapter, he became Superior of the Priests’ Home, Dalgan, until 1980 when he returned to Mindanao. Father Pat, who was a brother of Columban Con Campion, is buried at Dumalinao, and re-interred in the cemetery chapel in Paglaum, Pagadian, Mindanao, Philippines.