On Saturday 8th June 2024, a total of 10 Spiritans celebrated the jubilee of their ordination to the priesthood. They include David Conway, Brian Starken, Paddy J. Ryan and Des Byrne.
25th
From Co. Kildare, David Conway was ordained in 1999 by Bishop Éamonn Walsh and appointed to Kenya. He served for over two decades in education and health in the rural East Pokot area of the east African country. Returning to Ireland in 2019, he is the Provincial Bursar and a member of the leadership team of the Spiritans in Ireland.
50th
Offaly-born and raised in Co. Kerry, Brian Starken is a past-pupil of Rockwell College. Ordained in 1974, he served for some 25 years in Sierra Leone over the next five decades, including with Caritas International. Provincial in Ireland from 2006 – 2012, he was Team Leader in two West Dublin parishes from 2015 – 2023.
60th
Paddy J. Ryan is one of 5 surviving confrères from the 1964 Ordination Year. A writer and historian, he served in formation roles in East Africa for over two decades including in Moshi and Arusha (Tanzania). From Co. Tipperary, he served in a number of roles in his congregation’s Kimmage seminary, including lecturing in Church history, and did pastoral ministry in Greenhills/Kimmage parishes and in Kilcullen, Co Kildare.
70th
From Baltinglass, Des Byrne was ordained in 1954 in Rome. From 1955-1973, he served in Nigeria – Enugu, Lagos and Makurdi – in a range of ministries including as Secretary to the Apostolic Delegate, The Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, and in development of the role of the laity in the Church. In Ireland, he was parish priest
