THE former parish priest of St Johnston, Monsignor Dan Carr celebrated his Diamond Jubilee at a special Mass on Thursday night. Large crowds attended the special occasion in St. Baithin’s Church.
In an interview with the Donegal News last year as he prepared to step down from his role as St. Johnston Parish Priest after an admirable 55 years of service to the Catholic Church, Monsignor Dan Carr, a Fanad native, reflected on his life in changing times.
Born in 1939 in Ballyheerin, Fanad, Mgr Carr received his education locally before answering his calling to join the priesthood, culminating in his ordination at Maynooth in 1968. Upon returning to his beloved County Donegal, his first appointment led him to St Eunan’s College, Letterkenny, where he taught mathematics and eventually became the college’s president in 1982.
With 23 years of dedicated service to the college, Mgr Carr transitioned to the role of St Johnston Parish Priest, a position he held for an incredible 35 years.
“It’s the first parish I ever worked in, and the only parish,” Mgr Carr had told the Donegal News.
“When I came to St Johnston, I knew very little about it. It was a pleasant change from the busy corridors of St Eunan’s to the green fields of The Laggan and the beauty of the River Foyle.”
Mgr Carr acknowledged the “huge changes” during his tenure, reflecting on the improvement in living conditions and education opportunities for the local community.
“I was amazed at how few children came back to school after the summer holidays. I only realised later that they were all out with potato gatherers in the fields. Children back then had to do that because there were very poor incomes available from government sources.”
According to Mgr Carr, everything changed with the advent of the potato harvester.
“Now we find so many of our young ones, after the leaving certificate, going into third-level education and being involved in so many different careers,” he had told this newspaper.
However, on the question of whether thre will ever be women priests, Monsignor Carr took a traditional stance.
“Well, my understanding is, no. There are certain laws that the church can change. The other ones are ‘from above,’ and we cannot change those.”
Turning to the decline in church attendance across Ireland, Monsignor Carr immediately switched the conversation to the impact of Covid-19.
“I thought it was a fundamental mistake to close the churches at the beginning of Covid. They should have been left open so people could come and go as they wished. As far as I know, there has been no recorded evidence that anyone picked up Covid in a church,” he had said.
Regarding the dwindling number of men opting to join the priesthood, Donegal News had asked Monsignor Carr if he thinks the situation represents a crisis.
“Take all the missionary countries, where you might have one priest covering the size of Ulster, and it works. We have far too many churches in the first instance.”
As for retirement, Mgr Carr insisted at the time that he was not emotional about it. When asked how he’d like to be remembered, he had responded: “I’d like to think I’d be remembered as somebody who did his best in situations he was involved in, that I’ve done my best.”
Monsignor Dan Carr with friends Frankie and Margaret McNulty, Letterkenny, at the Diamond Jubilee Mass in St. Baithin’s Church.
Monsignor Dan Carr with Bishop Emeritus Philip Boyce, Archdeacon Willie McMenamin and Monsignor Kevin Gillespie at Monsignor Carr’s Diamond Jubilee Mass in St. Baithin’s Church, St. Johnston.
Fr Oliver McCrossan, Fr. Francie McAteer, Fr. Kieran McAteer and Deacon Declan Gibson at the Diamond Jubilee celebration Mass for Monsignor Dan Carr.
Members of the congregation delighted to greet Monsignor Carr at his Diamond Jubilee Mass.
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