'Something of a shock' - Tributes paid after sad death of Longford priest
A post including an image of late Fr Dominick Gillooly was shared to Facebook
A post including an image of late Fr Dominick Gillooly was shared to Facebook. A spokesperson for the Diocese of Elphin said: "The death of Fr Dominick Gillooly on Monday afternoon (22nd July) has saddened us all. While it did not come as a surprise, because his health had declined rapidly in the last few weeks, it does come as something of a shock, because he was our oldest priest and, even at the age of 91, he was a powerful presence in the parish community of St Anne’s, Cranmore.
"Although he resigned as Parish Priest nine years ago, he continued to make good use of his powerful voice to lead people in giving praise and thanks to God. A native of Lanesboro, Fr Dominick was born in 1933 and ordained a priest in 1958, just a few months before the election of Pope John XXIII, who convened the Second Vatican Council. This meant that having spent seven years in formation for the priesthood in Maynooth, like every priest of his generation, he had to learn a whole new way of being a priest in the light of the Council reforms.
"Like many priests of his time, Fr Dominick was part of a large surplus ordained each year in Maynooth and other seminaries and he was despatched to St Anthony’s Parish Slough, in the Diocese of Northampton, where he spent his first six years as a priest. On his return to the Diocese of Elphin he spent a year as a Curate in Geevagh, and then served for eight years on the teaching staff of the College of the Immaculate Conception, Summerhill.
"Between 1973 to 1983 Fr Dominick served as Curate in Strandhill Parish, before being appointed Parish Priest of St Anne’s in 1983. He has lived in and served that community for forty-one years, both as Parish Priest, and for the past nine years as Pastor Emeritus. It says something about him and about those who cared for him in recent years that he was able to live peacefully as a retired priest in the community that he loved so much.
"For Fr Dominick, a Church which promoted the active engagement of the lay faithful in mission was very much to be welcomed. Today, we are still trying to work out what that should be like in practice. Fr Dominick put flesh on the vision of the Second Vatican Council, not only in the parishes where he worked, but also in the Catholic Family Life Centre at St Michael’s in Sligo, the management committee of which he chaired up to the time of his retirement. May he rest in peace.
"Funeral Arrangements: Reposing at St Anne's Day Chapel on Friday, July 26 from 4pm - 8pm. Requiem Mass on Saturday, July 27 12 noon in St Anne's Church. Burial afterwards in St Patrick's Cemetery, Scarden."
Many users have commented under the post, one user said: "A great gardener too, he tended his rose bushes outside the parochial house in St Anne's very well, they bloomed greatly every year. Rest in peace."
Another user said: "What a wonderful man he was. May his gentle soul rest in peace."