PERMISSION - Key Persons
Alan Abernethy is the Church of Ireland Bishop of Connor in Northern Ireland. Ordained as a bishop in 2007, he has served in ministry in Ireland from 1981. He is married to Liz and they have two grown-up children. He has written two books, Fulfilment and Frustration (2000) and Shadows on a Journey (2011), both published by Columba.
Angela Hanley was born in Athlone, Co Westmeath, where she still lives. She completed her undergraduate theology studies with the Priory Institute, Dublin in 2010 as a mature student, Then furthered her theological studies in All Hallows, College, Dublin with a research MA on same-sex unions for gay/lesbian Catholic couples, graduating in 2015. She regularly contributed articles to a number of religious periodicals. She is the author of Justified by faith: an Irish missionary experience in Malawi and Whose a la carte menu: exploring Catholic themes in context. She is co-editor (with Dr. David Smith MSC) of Quench not the Spirit, a book of essays to honour Fr. Seán Fagan SM.
She is married to local historian Gearoid O Brien and they have two adult children and two grandchildren.
Dublin priest Fr Bryan Shortall OFM Cap. joined the Capuchin order in 1987 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1997. He graduated with an MA in School Chaplaincy from Mater Dei/DCU in 2004.
He has worked in various ministries to date, including school and hospital chaplaincy, and local leadership in the Capuchin order.
He is currently based in St Michan's Parish, Halston Street.
Christine Pickering is a qualified yoga teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga (BWY), she has Master and Trainer levels in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and has completed the ‘Essential Teaching' course by the World Community for Christian Meditation to teach Christian Meditation. She has a Church College's Certificate in Christian Calling and Service and trained as a Spiritual Director with the Ecumenical Spirituality Team at Rydal Hall, Cumbria. A practitioner of Hatha Yoga for 44 years, she has taught Christian Yoga, as featured in the BBC Songs of Praise series in 2008, and now teaches Maranatha Yoga classes and workshops under the Cumbria ‘God for All' initiative in the UK.
Daniel O'Leary was originally from Rathmore in County Kerry. He worked as a priest in the Diocese of Leeds and was known across the world as a bestselling author, inspiring speaker and retreat facilitator. He worked in parishes for almost 30 years and for another 20 years he taught Theology and Religious Education at St Mary's University College in London. He became chair of its Religious Studies department, before being appointed Episcopal Vicar for Christian Formation in Leeds until 2000. Over many years his theology and spirituality were a source of inspiration and solace to countless people. Daniel was diagnosed with cancer in the summer of 2018 and died on Monday, 21 st January, 2019, aged 82.
Donal Harrington is the author of a number of books, including The Welcoming Parish and Christianity at its Best and the revised edition of his book Tomorrow's Parish.
He works with the Dublin Archdiocese as Coordinator of Catechetical Formation. He previously lectured in moral theology (Mater Dei Institute) and pastoral theology (All Hallows College).
He is married with two children.
One of Ireland's best known priests, Fr Brian D'Arcy is an author, newspaper columnist, broadcaster, journalist and chaplain to the entertainment industry.
From Enniskillne in Co. Fermanagh, he entered the Passionist community in 1962 and was professed at The Graan, Enniskillen in 1963. He began his university education at UCD in 1963 and pursued his studies for the priesthood in Mount Argus Monastery, Dublin and in Cloonamahon, Co. Sligo.
He was ordained in 1969 and has served in Mount Argus, St Gabriel's Retreat, The Graan and is currently based in Tobar Mhuire in Crossgar, Co. Down.
Fr Paddy Byrne is a curate in Portlaoise parish in Co. Laois. At the time of his ordination in 2001, he became the youngest priest in the Diocese of Kildare and Leighlin. His first appointment was to Newbridge parish in Co. Kildare and he also served in Bagenalstown in Co. Carlow.
For the past 10 years, he has been a columnist for The Laois and Carlow Nationalist and a regular contributor to other local and national media.
He is well-known for his blogging and social media presence, which he uses to discuss the issues facing the Church and its followers.
Job Titles:
- Head of the Department of History at Maynooth University
Jacinta Prunty is head of the Department of History at Maynooth University, director of the MA in Historical Archives and a member of the editorial board of the Irish Historic Towns Atlas, Royal Irish Academy. A Holy Faith sister, Jacinta has published on the slum geography of nineteenth-century Dublin and the mission of Margaret Aylward (1810-89), foundress of the congregation. Her comprehensively-researched volume Our Lady of Charity debunks the sensationalist myths of the Magdalen laundries in Ireland.
James Carroll is a distinguished scholar in residence at Suffolk University and a columnist for The Boston Globe. He is the author of ten novels and seven works of fiction. James Carroll lives in Boston with his wife, the write Alexandra Marshall. They have two grown children.
Fr Joe McDonald is passionately interested in communication and the thing he is most passionate about communicating is a knowledge, understanding and love of Jesus of Nazareth.
He has been a teacher, a religious and, for the past 10 years, a priest of the Dublin diocese. Over the past few years he has been a regular guest on The Late Debate, Tonight with Vincent Browne and Claire Byrne Live.
A native of West Belfast, he is currently parish priest of St Matthew's in Ballyfermot, Dublin.
John F. Deane was born in Achill Island, Co. Mayo. He is the founder of Poetry Ireland, the National Anthony Press and of its journal The Poetry Ireland Review. He is also founder and first editor of The Dedalus Press. Translated in many languages, he has won many prestigious Irish and international awards for his poetry and in 1996, was elected Secretary General of the European Academy of Poetry.
Lord Robin Eames is an Anglican bishop who served as Primate of All Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh from 1986 to 2006, during some of the darkest days of the sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland through the early days of the peace process towards the Good Friday Agreement.
He studied law at Queen's University Belfast and after a legal research post qualified for a PhD and honorary doctorate in law. He went on to study theology at Trinity College Dublin before being ordained in 1963. He was appointed Bishop of Derry and Raphoe in 1975 and translated as Bishop of Down and Dromore in 1980. He was elected Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All-Ireland in 1986.
He has been a member of the House of Lords since 1995 and sits as a crossbench peer. He is married to Lady Christine and they have two sons and seven grandchildren.
Louise Hall is a Dublin-based writer with both fiction and non-fiction books to her name. Her first non-fiction book titled Medjugorje: what it means to me is published by Columba Books in 2012 and was widely received. Her second book Medjugorje and Me: A collection of stories from across the world was published in 2014. This collection is a follow-up/sequel to the first book and is also published by Columba Books. It was translated into Italian and published by Edizioni Piemme in 2016.
Louise continues to write for newspaper and magazines, and she has also been a contributor on RTE Radio and Television programmes.
Mary Kenny is an Irish journalist, broadcaster and playwright. A founding member of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement, she was one of the country's first and foremost feminists and has been described as "the grand dame of Irish journalism". Kenny has written for numerous broadsheet publications including the Irish Independent, The Times, The Guardian and The Irish Catholic. She has written books on feminism, Catholicism in Ireland and a personal biography of William Joyce. She has previously published A Day at a Time with Columba Books.
Mary McAleese was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1951. In 1975, she became the Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin, and in 1987 she was appointed Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University Belfast. She was elected President of Ireland in 1997, making her the first woman in the world to succeed another woman as president. After stepping down as President in 2011, she earned a Licentiate and PhD in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.
Mary Redmond Ussher (1950-2015) was a distinguished employment lawyer, academic and social entrepreneur, who changed the face of the charitable and hospice sectors in Ireland, by founding The Irish Hospice Foundation and The Wheel.
Mary T. Malone is a former member of the Faithful Companions of Jesus. She retired home to Ireland in 1997 after almost 40 years in Canada where she taught in Toronto's St Augustine's Seminary and in the University of St Jerome's, the Catholic College on the campus of the University of Waterloo. Mary has written a trilogy on Women & Christianity, 2000, 2001, 2003, and Praying with the Women Mystics, 2006, all for Columba Press.
Michael Kelly is an award-winning writer and broadcaster specialising in religious and social affairs. Born and raised in Northern Ireland, he attended the Pontifical University St Patrick's College, Maynooth where he obtained degrees in philosophy and theology and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome where he studied social institutional communications. He is Managing Editor of The Irish Catholic newspaper, a weekly columnist with The Irish Independent and a regular contributor to radio and TV current affairs programmes.
Michael Kelly has also published How to Defend the Faith Without Raising Your Voice (2018) with Columba Books.
Pat Collins is an Irish Vincentian priest based in Dublin. He is a speaker, retreat leader and author of many books on spirituality. Fr Collins is a member of the New Springtime Community and one of the few priests in the country who has experience as an exorcist.
Paul Robbins was ordained a Catholic priest in 1985 but sought laicisation in 1991 and subsequently married. He has degrees in theology and canon law and has worked processing marriage nullity applications with a number of diocesan tribunals for many years. He writes from his experiences as both a cleric and a layman. He has written a number of published articles and a book explaining the marriage nullity process.
Peter Tarleton Stewart has acted as chaplain in a university, schools, prisons and hospitals. He also has worked as a parish clergyman in Cork, Dublin, Cootehill, Killeshin and Portlaise, retiring in 2020 after 46 years as an Anglican priest. He has always been actively interested in politics, recognising how it often serves the interests of the few to the exclusion of the most vulnerable. As a Christian he sees the world as a place in which to be actively involved. He has called on the church to be bold in its service to humanity, and respectful in its care of the Earth.
Job Titles:
- Senior Research Associate
Phyllis Zagano is Senior Research Associate-in- Residence and Adjunct Professor of Religion at Hofstra University. She holds a PhD from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and three master's degrees, in communications, literature and theology. Dr Zagano is the author or editor of twenty-three books in religious studies. In 2016, Pope Francis appointed her to the Papal Commission for the Study of Women in the Diaconate, which convened in Rome, November 2016.
Cork-based Capuchin priest, Silvester O'Flynn is well-known for his reflections on the three cycles of Sunday Mass Readings. His books are deeply appreciated by preachers preparing homilies as well as being used in prayer groups.
He has frequently been asked for reflections on the daily Mass Readings and especially for Prayers of the Faithful related to the Gospel, which he has gathered in his most recent book Homily Hints and Prayers.
Valerie O'Sullivan is a photographer and media provider, based in Killarney. She covers a wide range of events in the Public Relations, Press, Tourism and Outdoor Sectors. A winner of many national awards in the Press Photographs Association of Ireland competition.