Old friends, bookends.

Posted by Jim on February 16, 2026

Bertie Ahern and AOH’s, Jim Sullivan, talk about future reunification of the island of Ireland at luncheon in Orlando Florida.

kidnapping to Irish Catholicism

Posted by Jim on February 15, 2026

The truth about St. Patrick’s life, from kidnapping to Irish Catholicism.

Here are some facts about the life of Saint Patrick – his journey from imprisonment to becoming a missionary.

William A. Thomas

@IrishCentral

Feb 15, 2026

Ireland celebrates Saint Patrick every March 17. But how many of us can really say that we know who he is – or who he was – and how relevant he is in today’s secular and, for the most part, pagan society?

Saint Patrick is not only the Patron Saint of Ireland but also of Australia, Nigeria, and Montserrat, which gives him universal recognition in the Church and in the world. He is also “Apostle” by God’s design to the Irish worldwide in the same genre as Saint Paul was “Apostle to the Gentiles.”

Saint Patrick becomes the Patron Saint on March 17 in almost every country of the world, as people celebrate their “Irish-ness” or links with Ireland through family and friends.

Saint Patrick is probably the best-known saint around the world, after Saint Therese of Lisieux. Not only are many people named after him, with some 7 million bearing his name, but many establishments, institutions, and churches are also called after him. Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York is the most famous.

St. Patrick’s kidnapping and imprisonment in Ireland

By all accounts, Patrick was captured by an Irish raiding party somewhere along the west coast of what is now Great Britain. It was more than likely Scotland because of its proximity to Ireland, although many would say Wales. We know that boats were leaving from Strangford Lough in Larne around 426 AD. (One can see Scotland from Larne on a clear day; it’s about 10 miles away).

Raiding parties, with warriors known as the “Picts,” would land somewhere on the coast and, if the place was inhabited, would usually do a “smash and grab job” of looting – young people, animals, clothes, weapons, etc. – and if they were opposed by anyone, they would kill them in order to get what they wanted. They ran inland for about three miles nonstop, leaving a handful of men to guard their vessels.

On one such raid, Patrick was snatched and brought to Ireland as a slave. His job was to mind the sheep at night in case wolves, wild dogs, foxes, or even bears took them or their lambs. He did this on the slopes of the Slemish Mountains in County Antrim.

We know from our history that Patrick’s father was a deacon and, therefore, a good Catholic. He was one who taught the faith in his own community, and no doubt one who prayed unceasingly for Patrick in a special way after his son’s kidnapping, asking the Lord for his safe return.

(We know some of the sources that give testimony to these facts from Patrick’s “Confessions,” the “Epistle against Coroticus”, and a number of “Ancient Lives,” including the Book of Armagh II, held in Trinity College Dublin).

How St. Patrick returned home and became a priest

Although Patrick was only 16 years old when taken into slavery, he was able to escape six years later and return home. He recounts a “dream” (vision) in which an angel of the Lord came at night and told him about a ship leaving Ireland and how he might be able to take it by traveling south near Dublin.

By this time, Patrick, who was often cold and hungry, had spent six years in virtual isolation away from people. He was lonely and had turned to prayer and, like his father, had prayed non-stop, asking God to deliver him. His prayers were finally heard, and God had designs on him. In fact, it would be fair to say that Patrick had become somewhat of a mystic by this stage, so intense was his prayer life and his constant communication with God.

He arrived home to his parents’ delight and was reunited with his family and friends. He later realized he had a vocation to the priesthood or to some ministry of prayer in the Church. At this time, the Church was already somewhat established in Ireland. There was already an Archbishop of Armagh by the name of Pallidus.

Ireland was not ecclesiastically independent at the time but came under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Arles in France, which is connected to the Mediterranean Sea by the Rhone River and, from there, by a direct link to Rome.

Patrick often thought about the Irish and prayed for their conversion to the faith. During his time in Ireland, even though he was a slave, he had developed a profound relationship with God and a great ability to pray.

Later, as he said himself in his “Confessions,” he was tormented by the “Voice of the Irish,” whom he had heard calling in the night: “Come back to us, Patrick.”

St. Patrick’s great mission to Ireland and the arrival of civilization

Once Patrick was ordained a priest and had learned Latin and French, he asked to be sent as a missionary to Ireland, or, as it was known then, Hiberniae, meaning “Land of Winter.” Patrick had a great missionary zeal and soon became Ireland’s second Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland.

He set two goals for himself: first, to evangelize the pagan Irish; and second, to establish ecclesiastical structures and dioceses with a view to achieving independence from Arles, which was supporting missionary activity in Ireland up until that time.

To do this without modern communications, roads, rail, telecommunications, etc. was very difficult, but Patrick was not deterred by hardship. After all, he was on fire with the love of God in his heart. He knew what his mission would be and how difficult it would be, but he always trusted in the power of God to deliver him, so he went about evangelizing. He did this by establishing many quasi-monastic structures in towns and villages as he passed through them.

He preached daily about the Kingdom of Heaven and baptized those who accepted the Gospel. Those who excelled in their faith, he ordained to the diaconate, leaving them in charge of the prayer and the various liturgical ceremonies, while in many cases, he ordained many devout men to the priesthood.

Later, he was able to select from them good and brave men whom he consecrated as bishops with the Pope’s approval. He was also successful in setting up dioceses in larger towns as he journeyed throughout the island of Ireland.

Saint Patrick had laid the foundations not only for the Catholic Church in Ireland but for all of Western Europe, and as such, deserves the title yet to be bestowed, of Co-Patron of Europe along with Saint Benedict, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Holy Cross (Edith Stein), and Saint Bridget of Sweden.

The Catholic Church in Ireland evangelized and educated its own people first, and it provided the first organized educational infrastructure for a society that had none. The monasteries were built, and there were many vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

The Irish monks became teachers and inventors. They were, in addition to leading the monastic life of prayer, also great builders and craftsmen. Given the many vocations, they began to consider becoming missionaries not only to Europe but also to the Americas.

Many monk missionaries left Ireland well prepared, some bound for Scotland, where they set up a monastery on Iona. Still others went to France, establishing the famous monastery of Locmine in Brittany, which still exists. Others went to Spain, and Saint Brendan the Abbot even went to North America (474-577AD).

Saint Patrick realized that the word Christianization was synonymous with civilization; therefore, as Europeans were being evangelized, they were being civilized at the same time. Europeans eventually became educated and were able to build large monasteries and cathedrals, many of which still stand. This is due, in part, to the untiring efforts of Saint Patrick and the great missionaries who are, for the most part, forgotten by the Irish today. Saint Patrick himself is really a gift of God to the Irish people, for whom the Irish will be eternally grateful.

Saint Patrick died in Armagh in 461AD after 29 years as Archbishop in that Archdiocese, which now has the Primacy of all Ireland. The current Archbishop is known as “Primate of all Ireland.” His job would be to chair all meetings of the Irish Episcopal Conferences and to make sure that faith and morals are taught and upheld by both the religious and civil authorities.

The remaining relics of Saint Patrick and his gifts to Ireland

There exists a very precious relic of Saint Patrick in Northern Ireland, his incorrupt right hand. This sacred and special relic is, unfortunately, kept at the Ulster Museum rather than in a dedicated, open-to-pilgrims place.

Saint Patrick’s jaw is kept in a parish church in the Diocese of Down and Connor. His grave is beside the Cathedral of Armagh.

Hopefully, one day these relics will be gathered and incorporated into an International Shrine of Saint Patrick, along with other materials, such as books on his life, that show his influence on the entire Catholic Church.

To celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day, therefore, is to commemorate his life and works and to give thanks to God for the gift of this great saint, while imploring him to intercede on our behalf before the Most Blessed Trinity. According to a legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock to try to explain how there can be three Divine Persons in one God, because, as we all know, there are three leaves in one stem on the shamrock.

Patrick is also the one who left us with the Celtic Cross. When he began to evangelize, he found that many pagans had worshiped the sun, so he incorporated the sun into the Latin Cross. Likewise, when he met the Druids, who worshiped a sacred standing stone marked with a circle symbolic of the moon goddess, he incorporated that as well. The Celtic Cross is now world-famous and revered by all.

“Saint Patrick’s Breastplate” – a prayer of protection written by St. Patrick himself.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through the belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness

Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,

Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,

Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,

Through the strength of his descent for the judgment of Doom.

I arise today

Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,

In obedience of angels,

In the service of archangels,

In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In prayers of patriarchs,

In predictions of prophets,

In preaching of apostles,

In faith of confessors,

In innocence of holy virgins,

In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven:

Light of sun,

Radiance of moon,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning,

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

I arise today

Through God’s strength to pilot me:

God’s might to uphold me,

God’s wisdom to guide me,

God’s eye to look before me,

God’s ear to hear me,

God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to guard me,

God’s way to lie before me,

God’s shield to protect me,

God’s host to save me

From snares of devils,

From temptations of vices,

From everyone who shall wish me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,

Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that there may come to me abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,

Christ in every eye that sees me,

Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through belief in the threeness,

Through confession of the oneness,

Of the Creator of Creation. Amen!

Ireland’s 16th century pirate queen

Posted by Jim on

IRISH CENTRAL:

The incredible life Grace O’Malley, Ireland’s 16th century pirate queen.

Grace O’Malley’s life, albeit lived over four hundred years ago, resonates still today and this strong, powerful woman’s story is an incredible tale.

IrishCentral Staff

@IrishCentral

Feb 15, 2026

A statue of the Pirate Queen, Grace O’Malley.

A fearsome warrior, Grace O’Malley led armies, traded at sea, and captained pirate ships—a woman truly unique in her time.

Born in 1530, at Belcare Castle near Westport, Co Mayo, Grace O’Malley (Gráinne Ní Mháille in Irish, also known as Granuaile) was the daughter of a chieftain, Eoghan Dubhdara (Black Oak) O’Máille, and Margaret or Maeve Ní Mháille. A chieftain was the leader of a clan under the ancient Irish Brehon Law, but during Grace’s lifetime, the Tudor conquest of Ireland ended these traditions, and the native Irish people lost many of their lands, castles, and titles.

O’Malley Clan

The O’Malley clan had risen to power as a great seafaring family on the west coast of Ireland in the 14th century. For over 300 years, they had dominated the southern shore of Clew Bay in Co Mayo, and the Barony of Murrisk at the center of the old Irish kingdom known as Umhall.

The family, whose coat of arms bore the Latin motto ‘Terra Marique Putens’ (‘valiant by sea and land’), traded with France and Spain and ‘taxed’ all boats that fished and traded off their coasts, demanding a toll or part of the cargo. Their castles along the coastline all faced the sea to protect their territory.

Grace or Gráinne was often known as Gráinne Mhaol—maol is Irish for “bald”—and the nickname allegedly stems from her having chopped off her hair as a young girl to disguise herself as a boy and sail aboard her father’s ship. Of course, it was not the done thing for a girl to do in those days, but Grace O’Malley was a strong character.

Despite the Brehon Laws of the time granting women many rights and status, Grace was still married off at the tender age of 15 to Donal O’Flaherty of the Clan O’Flaherty in Connemara. The couple lived at Bunowen Castle on the coast near Ballyconneely, Co. Galway, and had three children: Owen (Eoghan), Margaret (Méadhbh), and Murrough (Murchadh).

By this time, Elizabeth I had ascended the throne in England and was continuing a policy of surrender and regrant regarding Irish lands—in other words, chieftains had to surrender their lands to the English crown, and if they pledged allegiance, the lands would be regranted to them. However, it led to widespread inter-tribal warfare and division.

When Gráinne was 23, her husband Donal was killed defending his castle on Lough Corrib. Due to his bravery, the castle came to be known as An Cullagh (The Cock). However, the invaders thought they would easily gain control of the castle after Donal’s death; they didn’t reckon on Grace’s skills in battle, and her skill in defending it quickly led to it being renamed Hen’s Castle (Caisleán-an-Circa), the name it retains to this day.

Clare Island

Despite the relative status accorded to women under the Gaelic laws of the time, and the fact that she was definitely the more powerful one of the couple, Grace did not inherit her late husband’s title of a chieftain, and her husband’s cousin succeeded him. Grace went home to her family castle on Clare Island, bringing with her a good number of the O’Flaherty warriors who wished to continue serving under her command. It was from this excellent strategic base that she established her reputation as a pirate, with a flotilla of three galley ships and a number of smaller boats, and an excellent view of all the sea traffic passing by Clew Bay. She assembled a faithful army of 200 men, many of whom had abandoned their own clans to accept her leadership.

Her plunders and attacks made her feared up and down the coast of Ireland and as far afield as the outer Scottish islands, which she was also known to raid. Despite living by her own rules, her upbringing was steeped in the Brehon traditions, such as offering food and shelter to anyone who calls to your door. It is said that once, while provisioning at the port of Howth near Dublin, she sought hospitality at the castle and was turned away at the gate—the Earl of Howth was at dinner and did not wish to be disturbed. Enraged, she kidnapped the Earl’s grandson and brought him back to Clew Bay. Her ransom demand was simple: that the gates of Howth Castle would always be kept open and an extra place always set at the dinner table.

Strategic marriage

In 1567, in her late thirties, she married again, this time to Richard ‘The Iron’ Bourke. They married, according to the Brehon tradition of a trial marriage, ‘for one year certain’. Although this time she chose her husband, it may have been for the situation of his castle, Rockfleet, more than for love.

The marriage bore one son, Tiobóid na Long, ‘Toby of the Ships’, born around 1567. It’s said that she gave birth to the child at sea, and soon after her ship was boarded by Algerian pirates—she is said to have rallied to the deck, wrapped in blankets to fight them off with her crew.

She was said to have ended her marriage with Richard by calling out a window, ‘I dismiss you’, however according to English documents from the time, they still appeared to be married. After the divorce, Richard remained an ally and Grace kept the castle, Rockfleet Castle.

Her property portfolio included several castles—Rockfleet in Clew Bay, Doona on Blacksod, Kildavnet on Achill Island and the O’Malley Castle on Clare Island. She decamped to Clare Island in summer and this was not only her favorite home but strategically placed at the center her seaboard kingdom. Legend has it that she would feed the mooring ropes of her galley through her bedroom window and tie them to her bed.

Tougher times

In 1577, on a plundering voyage south to Limerick, she was captured and jailed, first in Limerick, and then transferred across to Dublin Castle on the other side of the country, which was normally reserved for the most notable prisoners. Very few inmates were ever released from there, but by early 1579 she was a free woman again.

In 1581, Richard was bestowed with the McWilliamship of Mayo title, which was the most powerful title of the time—it should have been his by birthright, but it had been a long battle to access it under English rule. Sadly he didn’t live long to enjoy it, and passed away in 1583.

The following years were difficult for Grace and her followers. Sir Richard Bingham, the English governor of the province of Connacht, had her in his sights. At one point she was close to being executed but escaped. However, her eldest son was murdered. There were years of battling, amidst a tense atmosphere, as rumors of a Spanish Armada fleet abounded—it was expected that the Catholic army of Spain would use Ireland as a back door to invade England. By 1592, English warships had come to Clew Bay to head them off, and Grace’s sheltered harbor base was no longer her own. In her sixties at this stage, she had already well outlived the life expectancy for women of the day, despite her dangerous lifestyle.

Queen Elizabeth 1

In 1593, Grace set out on a historic journey, sailing up the Thames to gain an audience with Queen Elizabeth I at Greenwich Palace. It is said that when they met, Grace refused to bow before Queen Elizabeth because she considered herself a Queen and not a subject of the Queen of England. The meeting between the two women was conducted in Latin, and in it Grace looked for compassion from the Queen, to release Grace’s son Toby and her half-brother, Dónal, from prison. Although of an age to retire, after the successful negotiations with Elizabeth I, she commenced rebuilding her fleet and continued to trade at sea into her final years. Bingham, further enraged that Grace had gone behind his back and been entertained at court, continued in his vendetta against her and her family as long as he remained in Ireland.

Despite her life full of danger and warfare, Granuaile lived to a great age. She died in 1603 at Rockfleet Castle and was buried in the Cistercian Abbey on Clare Island.

Iconic

In an author’s note to the 40th-anniversary edition of her seminal biography of Grace O’Malley, Anne Chambers, writes, “International focus on gender equality, the ‘Me Too’ movement and other feminist campaigns, makes Grace O’Malley’s life, albeit lived over four hundred years ago, resonate even more today. She shines as an inspirational beacon of what women everywhere can achieve, even in the most demanding and difficult environments.

As ageism in society, particularly attitudes to older women, comes under greater scrutiny today, that she retained her status as a woman of power and remained actively involved right to the end of her long life undoubtedly makes Grace O’Malley a symbol of positive aging and through her example the realization that age need not be a terminus—merely another port-of-call.

‘There’s always somebody who wants to chat’

Posted by Jim on

THE IRISH NEWS:

Northern Ireland

‘There’s always somebody who wants to chat’ – Popular south Belfast Irish language group marks its first anniversary.

The bi-monthly speaking sessions were set up by Aingeal Nic an Mháistir last February and have grown in popularity.

Members of the ciorcal comhrá on the Ormeau Road

By Mark Robinson

February 15, 2026 at 6:00am GMT

The founder of an Irish language speaking group in south Belfast has told of how their sessions have grown into a community for all ages, backgrounds and abilities after starting out with a handful of members a year ago.

Aingeal Nic an Mháistir, who is originally from Dublin, set up a ciorcal comhrá, or conversation circle, at the Parador Bar on the Ormeau Road in February 2025 after looking for a regular opportunity to practise her Irish.

The sessions, which are held on Wednesday evenings every two weeks, have been running ever since and have grown as they get ready to mark their first anniversary.

Read more: How TikTok is inspiring a surge in popularity for learning and teaching Gaeilge

Speaking to The Irish News, Ms Nic an Mháistir said that she was inspired to set up the sessions in her area after looking for an alternative to formal classes.

“I’ve always spoken Irish, and just to kind of keep my foot in the water, I go to classes here and there, go to cultural events, and really there’s loads of events going on in Belfast,” she said.

“I just kind of got to the point that I didn’t want to go to a class.

“So, I just was thinking, right, what can I do that I can start having a regular opportunity to talk as a gaeilgeoir?”

Ms Nic an Mháistir said that after the Parador Bar agreed to host the group, she put an ad online and let a few neighbours know that it was on.

“Our first night was so nerve-wracking,” she said.

“But a few people turned up, which was lovely. And then from then, it’s kind of grown. It can be anything from ten to 20 people.”

She added that while members are attending from different backgrounds, what was “really lovely” about the group was the age range.

“You have from 20-year-olds to 70-plus and just having that kind of intergenerational mix has been so nice,” she said.

“Obviously, the range of abilities in the group are varied as well.

“Because it’s not a class, we all kind of support each other.”

Ms Nic an Mháistir added that there was a “sense of community” created within the group which has allowed for informal and natural uses of Irish.

“I got the bus up from town yesterday, and I saw a fella getting on the bus who goes to the ciorcal,” she said.

“We were just yapping away in Irish. It just makes it very relaxed and a very easy part of life, rather than attending a six-week course or an intensive Saturday course yourself, which is nice, and it’s good to have those opportunities, but it’s nice just to have it as a part of life.”

Ms Nic an Mháistir said that, looking ahead, the group want to continue on their current path.

“It’s been every two weeks for the whole year; we’ve not cancelled for any reason, because there’s always somebody who wants to chat,” she said.

“I think we’re happy to keep things going as they are and keep on being consistent and just keeping it going.

“The Parador is so supportive; they have it on their schedule of events and even the guys behind the bar try and speak a cupla focal when we’re there, which is just so lovely.”

Their next session will take place from 7pm on February 18.

‘Once you put your head above the parapet, there comes a cost’

Posted by Jim on

THE IRISH NEWS:

Northern Ireland

Fr Gary Donegan: ‘Once you put your head above the parapet, there comes a cost’.

A quarter of a century after first arriving in north Belfast, Fr Gary Donegan tells Denzil McDaniel about walking a ‘crooked line’ through troubled times.

Fr Gary Donegan pictured at the Passionist Monastery at Tobar Mhuire in Crossgar, Co Down.

February 15, 2026 at 6:00am GMT

WHEN Father Gary Donegan first felt the calling to be a priest as a Fermanagh teenager, he had a blunt reply for God: “Forget it, big lad.”

“There were girls in my class who had a better chance than me of becoming a priest,” he recalls with his familiar sense of humour, as he sits in his office in the grounds of Mercy Primary School on Belfast’s Crumlin Road.

The Passionist priest admits that his younger self struggled with resentment towards God over a series of tragedies in his deeply religious Fermanagh home.

“God took a battering. I would go down to the chapel and fight with God about some of the things that had happened.”

Providence dictated that his fight was only beginning, except that the man a documentary once dubbed “the priest in the jeans” would battle for rather than against his faith, and bravely stand to lead others through dark times.

It’s 25 years last month since Donegan arrived in Ardoyne, just 80 miles from his upbringing in Newtownbutler but a world away from his “idyllic childhood”.

He’s the second of five siblings, there were 13 in his father’s family, and in the wide, close-knit circle “there was never a cross word”.

Despite the conflict in the border area, there were great relationships between Protestants and Catholics and the large Donegan family got on well with everybody.

He recalls a Belfast woman accusing him of hating Protestants and shocking her into silence by telling her about his Protestant relatives.

“I was very blessed,” he says.

For a self-confessed “culchie”, it was a major change finding himself on the streets of north Belfast.

“I was sent here in 2001, and I use the term ‘sent’ deliberately because I didn’t want to come to the city. I saw the raw sectarianism, it was a shock.”

But he soon found the real people of the area.

“Ardoyne people are the salt of the earth, there’s nobody like them. You hear the term they’d give you the bit out of their mouth,” he says, talking in the heartland of Ardoyne in an office where he commutes to most days despite being based in Crossgar, Co Down.

For a quarter of a century, Donegan has literally walked the walk for the people he so admires.

Despite death threats, he and Father Aidan Troy led the Holy Cross children past loyalist protesters to school day after day in 2001, bearing the brunt of “vitriolic abuse”.

He was also on the streets every night for three years to help defuse tension during the Twaddell Avenue protests when Orange parades were denied a return along the Crumlin Road; and he faced down republican dissidents opposed to an eventual deal.

There’s a famous scene where he’s being verbally attacked by them and he steps forward, points the finger and comes out with the line: “I’ve been here every night for three years, where were you?”

On another occasion, he spoke out publicly as the scourge of illegal drugs resulted in suicides among the area’s youth, encouraging local people to also find their voice.

It wasn’t easy, and he recalls incidents such as being spat at in a restaurant and being hit by water cannon while helping to stop rioting.

“When you’re a peacemaker, you walk a very fine line at times. Once you put your head above the parapet, there comes a cost,” he says.

But he jokes that a mental toughness was already developed on the Gaelic football field: you couldn’t afford to take a backward step against St Pat’s of Donagh, the neighbouring parish to Newtownbutler First Fermanaghs, he says.

Donegan approached it all with a mixture of courage, a desire to break down barriers, humour, and empathy for others.

His resilience was forged in the fire of loss during his youth.

He recalls in 1979 a horrendous accident near his home in Fermanagh when seven people were killed in a car crash, including four members of the O’Harte family, with whom he was close.

His closest friend, Fergal O’Harte, survived because he was in Clones selling programs at the Ulster football final.

But it was merely a reprieve for the 15-year-old.

Donegan recalls with clarity the day he and Fergal were helping out with farm work and sat down by the stump of a tree.

“Fergal says ‘I don’t feel well, I’m really tired’ and he pointed to this thing on his neck. I said ‘It’ll not kill you’. I remember saying that line. Little did I realise that that Fergal developed a rare form of cancer.”

Despite a widely-publicised mercy mission when an RAF helicopter landed at the isolated border farmhouse to bring the boy to Glasgow for a revolutionary treatment called Interferon, Gary’s young friend died.

“I used to go to Fergal’s grave and talk to him,” says Donegan. “I’d say to God how could you, as a God, allow a family to be wiped out and and this widow left with a special needs daughter and a 90-year-old granny. How could you let that happen?

“At the same time Mammy’s sister, Tess, was dying of cancer. I think she was 39. One night Father William from the Graan came in to visit and her whole countenance changed.

“And this feeling came over me. This is what God wants me to do.”

Initially he resisted. “I just wanted to box for Ulster, play for Fermanagh. I want the wife, the five snottery children, an Audi 80 and a nice bungalow. I didn’t want much,” he jokes.

“But the more I would fight it, the more it was happening.”

So, Gary Donegan entered the priesthood at the Graan, the Passionist Retreat near Enniskillen, in October 1983, not yet 20 years old.

Why the Passionists?

”The Passionists’ first vow is to preach Christ crucified, taken from St Paul’s scripture. So, our first vow is to be with the modern-day crucified. I saw the guys in the Graan and I saw their empathy with the suffering.”

Donegan’s background in Fermanagh was key to the inner strength he showed in the turmoil of Ardoyne’s troubles, and he says his faith is underpinned by liberation theology and “the church of the street”.

The documentary “The Priest with the Jeans” was about him hearing as many confessions down entries or along the street, when he was joined by Brian McKee, his “wing man”.

He points to a photo of the two of them, and jokes: “You wouldn’t buy a used car off that boy!”

Donegan has rightly gained respect and plaudits for his peace and reconciliation work. He’s travelled far and wide, working with British, Irish and Amercan governments, in addition to being in places such as Estonia and South Africa.

In his office there’s photo of him speaking at the United Nations.

Often he travels with his good friend Bill Shaw, the Presbyterian minister he met during interface trouble, and he’s travelled to Dublin with loyalist leaders.

He works across communities with numerous people trying to make a difference.

All the above just scratch the surface of the work which has gained him honorary doctorates at Ulster University and Queen’s University, awards such as Community Relations Council person of the year, Aisling Centre man of the year, recognition in America and more.

At its heart, though, is the work he’s done among his own people, and it may seem remarkable that an area which has suffered so much becomes the inspiration for peace and reconciliation.

“Ardoyne was the epicentre of loss,” he says. “It had the largest loss of life of any parish in what we euphemistically call the Troubles. To put it into context, the 99 lives lost is the equivalent of 50,000 people dying in LA or 4.2 million dying in the United States.”

A book called “Ardoyne: The Untold Truth” was published in 2002 by a local project, which Donegan says “tells the stories of the 99 souls in a non-hierarchal way”.

The book details accounts of people killed by loyalist paramilitaries, state forces and republicans.

“I am on record as having condemned any form of violence. But what you had to do when you came here was to try to understand why somebody would take on a cause or defend a cause that would give up their liberty, give up faith, give up what drove them.

“You’re trying to get inside the mindset of why would someone actually do that on both sides,” he says, and points out that a lot of republican paramilitaries were Marxists and “hated the church and priests with a passion”.

He remembers during work he was doing with loyalists and republicans when “the republican prisoner was giving it to me in the neck and the loyalist guy couldn’t get over this and said ‘we were brought up thinking you were out to get us for Rome’.”

“I said ‘Would you take a look at that boy there; we have difficulty hold on to the ones we have!’”

Being a peacemaker can mean ploughing a lonely furrow, or as Father Gary Donegan puts it, “walking a crooked line”.

Essentially, if he was on any side it was that of the hard-pressed people caught in the middle of the conflict.

“You have to work with your own community before you can reach out. You have to win their trust,” he says, and ironically the role he and Father Aidan Troy played in standing up for the Holy Cross children gave them a credibility that years of traditional church work would never have done.

He recalls a vigil for Michael McGibbon, shot dead in church grounds, and the 1986 killing by the UVF of Raymond Mooney, murdered as he was leaving after chairing a meeting of the Holy Cross “living church” group.

The decision was taken to name the centre the Raymond Mooney Peace and Reconciliation office.

Peacemaking in troubled times was often subject to intimidation, such as constant blowing of car horns as he spoke at vigils or public meetings.

He recalls at one point standing up and saying to local people: “This is your area. I’m willing to give my life for you but I’m a blow-in. I love this place, but it’s your home. You need to take charge of this.”

Today, Ardoyne is a much better place but while the war is over, the efforts for peace and reconciliation go on at the Houben Centre, named after Father Charles Houben, a Dutch Passionist who returned to Ireland in his healing ministry.

Later he would be canonised as St Charles of Mount Argus.

Gary Donegan continues his peace efforts, despite personal setbacks in recent times.

Now aged 61, his health issues include significant loss of vision in one eye, and in January last year the passing of his beloved mother, Christina, hit him hard.

He was incredibly close to her, so close he felt unable to speak at her funeral. During our interview, he becomes emotional and quiet for a time as he recalls her memory, including the day she saved his brother’s life when fire engulfed their Newtown butler home.

“She was hanging out the clothes, and she heard the screams of Mark. She raced down; in those days women wore aprons and she threw the apron over her face and ran through the flames and pulled him out to save him.”

The story was covered in the press and media, describing her as “Ireland’s national heroine”.

Mark survived but would later develop MS and has been in a wheelchair most of his adult life.

“He’s my hero, he’s as happy as Larry and an inspiration to everybody,” says Donegan.

It seems to pass him by that his life of service also makes him a hero and inspiration to many in Ardoyne, across Ireland and further afield.