Société des Missions Africaines –Province d'Irlande
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né le 10 juin 1896 à Treenahantry dans le diocèse de Tuam, Irlande membre de la SMA le 8 juillet 1927 prêtre le 7 juin 1931 décédé le 26 juin 1976 |
1931-1944 missionnaire au Liberia décédé à Southwark, Grande-Bretagne, le 26 juin 1976, |
Father John Thomas COLEMAN (1896 - 1976)
John Coleman was born at Treenahantry, Swinford, Co Mayo, Ireland, in the diocese of Achonry, on June 10, l896. He died in Leatherhead hospital, Surrey, England, on June 26, l976.
John Coleman was born an only child to Michael and Mary (nee Lydon) Coleman. Orphaned early in life he was reared in his uncle’s home in Treenahantry. He attended the local national school at Lismirrane, Bohola, Co Mayo, going to work at the age of thirteen for the MacManus family in Killeadon House. There he was fortunate to come under the tutelage of Miss Lottie MacManus – quite a figure at the time in the Irish Revival Movement – through whom he met many of the leading figures of the Irish Renaissance including Lady Augusta Gregory and Douglas Hyde. In 1921, at the age of twenty-five, after a spell working in England, he set his mind on becoming a priest At this venerable age he entered the Sacred Heart college, Ballinafad, Co Mayo (l92l l922), and completed his secondary studies at St. Joseph’s college, Wilton, Cork (l922 l925). He then entered the Society’s novitiate and house of philosophy, at Kilcolgan, Co Galway. John completed his seminary training at Dromantine, Co Down, where he studied theology (l927 l93l). He became a member of the Society on July 8, l927 and was ordained a priest by Bishop Edward Mulhern of Dromore diocese, at St. Colman’s cathedral, Newry, on June 7, l93l. He was one of a group of twelve ordained on that day.
After ordination John was appointed to the prefecture of Liberia, which was the first mission entrusted to the Irish Province in the year of its foundation (1912). Liberia was to prove one of the most intransigent missions in West Africa. Before the SMA came to the region (in l906) three previous efforts to set down roots, conducted by other missionary agencies, had failed. The SMA succeeded in establishing a firm base, but progress was slow. Liberia was an impoverished country with a dispersed population, simmering political unrest, poor communications, and a virtual absence of medical facilities. It was a country where Protestantism of a virulent anti-Catholic strain was strongly established. On his arrival in October 1931 John was posted to the district of Monrovia. The mission in Monrovia was still in its infancy. Re-opened in 1921, after four previous ‘openings’ in the 19th and early 20th century, there were now some 450 Catholics (mostly immigrants from the Kru Coast, east of Monrovia) and some 84 catechumens. Bob O’Leary was John’s superior and together they worked energetically to develop the district, ministering not only to the faithful but visiting government prisons and army barracks and, in particular, seeking out locations for secondary stations (such as Krootown, Basstown, Firestone plantation, Kakata, and White Plains). In January 1933 they were able to establish Monrovia’s first two outstations, Kekru (originally a residential station but closed for over 20 years) and Kakatown (another station which had been closed for many years).
John’s first tour of duty lasted four years. During that time, in April 1934, the prefecture was erected as a vicariate under John Collins. When John returned to Liberia, in October 1936, Bishop Collins appointed him to Grand Cess district, on the Kru Coast. This mission was founded in 1916 and quickly became one of the strongest stations in Liberia. John was assisted by Tom Clonan until 1938 when he was joined by Frank Convey. Together they looked after a Catholic community of some 1,500 members and 500 catechumens, located in the principal station of Grand Cess, its four large secondary stations, Kinekale, Topo, Filokli and Bielapo, and its several small outstations. John’s second tour of duty, prolonged because of the war, lasted over seven years. In March 1940 John was transferred to Owensgrove, in Monrovia district, where Alex Matthews (who went on leave in February) had started a farm on 30 acres of mission land. Michael Cummins, the ‘visitor’, responsible for the welfare of the confreres, and keenly interest in self-support schemes, reported to the Provincial, Stephen Harrington, that ‘for Owensgrove we are planning a pig and poultry farm, and possibly dairying on a small scale. English pigs (“large white” and “middle white”) do very well. There will always be a good market for pork in Firestone (rubber plantation) and Monrovia. European eggs will also be in demand amongst Firestone people, as well as vegetables.’ John’s efforts to develop the farm according to plan were thwarted when in 1942 he was appointed chaplain to the American troops stationed near Firestone, most of whom were African-Americans. According to Bishop Collins, John was ‘a great favourite’ with these soldiers. However in the same letter, written in March 1943, Bishop Collins noted that John was very weary and would probably return to Ireland if an opportunity arose. Michael Cummins noted too that John was urgently in need of a rest.
In 1944, John succeeded in getting a passage to the USA where it was hoped that he could recuperate. His arrival came shortly after the erection of the Society’s American works into a full Province (March 1941). This Province was in great need of new members and especially for confreres to engage in the work of promotion. John was prevailed upon by his superiors to help and in 1946 he became a member of the American Province, taking up residence in Tenafly, New Jersey. He became an American citizen two years later. Subsequently he worked in the archdioceses of Washington, DC, in Los Angeles, in Boston and in the diocese of Savannah. In l956 he went to work in the diocese of Southwark, England, first at Kingston on Thames and then chaplain to St. Andrew’s convent, Epson Road, Leatherhead. He died in Leatherhead hospital of heart failure.
He is buried in the SMA Community Cemetery, Wilton, Cork, Ireland.
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