Société des Missions Africaines –Province d’Irlande

né le 16 juillet 1917 à Ballycumber dans le diocèse d’Ardagh, Irlande membre de la SMA le 13 juin 1942 prêtre le 10 décembre 1942 décédé le 21 avril 1979

1943-1944 Milton, professeur 1944-1962 missionnaire au Liberia, Monrovia 1962-1966 Ballinafad, professeur 1966-1972 séminaire d’Allerton Park en 1968 passe à la Province de Grande Bretagne 1972-1979 Manchester, recrutement et animation vocationnelle décédé à Manchester, Grande-Bretagne, le 21 avril 1979, à l’âge de 62 ans

Father Patrick Joseph GUINAN (1917 – 1979)

Patrick Guinan was born at Ballycumber, Co Offaly, in the diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise, on l6 July 1917. He died, unexpectedly, in the Society’s house at Anson Road, Victoria Park, Manchester, England, on the morning of 21 April 1979.

Patrick (Joe) studied in the Sacred Heart college, Ballinafad, Co Mayo, and St. Joseph’s college, Wilton, Cork, from 1932 1937, before going to the Society novitiate and house of philosophy at Kilcolgan, Co Galway. He was received as a member of the Society on 2 July 1939 and completed his seminary training at Dromantine, Co Down. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop Joseph Walsh of Tuam, in the chapel of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, at Moyne Park, Tuam, Co Galway, on 19 December 1942. He was one of a group of nine ordained on that day. Society ordinations normally took place in St. Colman’s cathedral, Newry, but a fifty mile limit on car travel due to the war would have prevented many families from attending. To convenience the families ordinations took place not only in the north (in the college chapel at Dromantine), but also in St. Patrick’s cathedral, Skibbereen and at Moyne Park.

During his last year at Wilton Joe had attended U.C.C. and he had continued university studies at U.C.G. during his years in Kilcolgan. In June 1939 he had been awarded a B.A. degree (philosophy and education). After ordination Joe returned to U.C.C. for a year to take a higher diploma in education. During this year he resided at Wilton and taught in the apostolic school. Joe was now appointed to the vicariate of Liberia, in west Africa. Because of the war he found it difficult to get a sea passage, however he eventually reached his mission in December 1944. Joe was to serve in Liberia until 1962. On his arrival he was appointed to the district of Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. At this time efforts were being made to establish a secondary college in Monrovia. For some time now there had been a large elementary school there, named after St. Patrick. Joe was appointed to this school which was in the process of training students beyond elementary level. The pastoral staff of Monrovia district, serving a Catholic community of some 1,300 members and 200 catechumens, were Tom Larkin (the superior) and Tom Higgins. In 1946 St. Patrick’s became a full secondary school, with Joe as principal and Michael Rooney as the other priest member of staff. By August 1948, when Joe first went on his first home leave, there were almost 70 pupils in the secondary department of St. Patrick’s. When Joe returned to Liberia in August 1949, he resumed his principalship.

In February 1950 the Kru coast region of the vicariate was detached and erected as a separate jurisdiction, the prefecture of Cape Palmas. Joe remained on at St. Patrick’s (which now had 120 pupils) until January 1955, when he was seconded to the Cape Palmas prefecture which was desperately short of staff. Francis Carroll, the prefect, who already had a distinguished career as an educationalist, was anxious to press forward with a number of educational works within his jurisdiction. One of his primary objectives was to establish a good secondary college and a teacher training college, and in order to ensure its success he obtained the services of Alfred Love, who had worked formerly in the vicariate. When a second priest with good university qualifications could not come out from Ireland, Joe was made available. This institution, called the university college of Our Lady of Fatima, opened in 1954 and a year later had an intake of some 80 students in the teacher training department and some 200 pupils in the school. Joe remained on in the Cape Palmas college until 1958 when a crisis in staffing at St. Patrick’s high school, required his return to the vicariate of Monrovia. When Joe returned to Ireland on leave four years later, in October 1962, he left behind him a school with some 800 pupils on the rolls.

In December 1962 Joe was appointed to the staff of the Sacred Heart college, Ballinafad, which was now a full secondary college. He served there, teaching several subjects, including the difficult new mathematics course, until 1966 after which he was assigned to the British Province of the Society. Joe was involved in training future priests for the Province, first in the seminary at Allerton Park (Nr. Knaresborough, Yorkshire), where he taught philosophy and later in Mount Carmel seminary, Dutton Manor (Longridge, Nr. Preston, Lancashire). Joe became a member of the British Province which was formally erected in 1968. He spent his last years (1972 1979) in the promotion office of the British Province at St. Augustine’s, Manchester, where he was also vice superior. Joe was in poor health for several years before he died, suffering from cardiac and circulatory problems.

He is buried Boher cemetery, Ballycumber, Co Offaly.