Société des Missions Africaines – Province d'Irlande

né le 15 novembre 1925 dans le diocèse de Hexham &Newcastle, UK membre de la SMA le 14 juin 1954 prêtre le 18 juin 1958 décédé le 1er mars 2006

1958-1977 missionnaire au Nigeria, diocèse de Jos 1977-1986 diocèse de Leeds, Grande-Bretagne 1986-1989 Castelcomer, Co Kilkenny 1989-1992 diocèse de Hexham & Newcastle, UK 1992-1998 Dromantine, retiré 1998-2002 Wilton, retiré 2002-2006 Blackrock Road, Cork, retiré décédé à Blackrock Road, Cork, Irlande, le 1er mars 2006 à l’âge de 80 ans

Joseph Brennan was born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, in the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, on 15 November 1925.
He died in St. Theresa’s nursing unit, SMA house, Blackrock Road, Cork, on 1 March 2006.

Joseph (Joe) was the son of Joseph and Brigid (nee Loughlin) Brennan. A coalminer in England, though born in Ireland, his father was killed in an accident three months before Joe’s birth. Some nine years later his mother died and Joe was brought to Ireland where he lived with his paternal grandmother, Mrs Esther Brennan of ‘The Cottage’, Massford, Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny. At the age of fourteen years Joe was apprenticed to the coalmines near Castlecomer. Later he served for three years in the Irish army, two of which were spent as a clerk in the Army Depot of Engineers, and one at Ordnance Survey work. Then, after a brief employment as a postman and a bus conductor with C.I.E., he applied to join the Society of African Missions. Not having had a formal secondary education Joe first went to the Society’s senior secondary college at Wilton where he impressed the Fathers as a dependable and capable young man with sufficient academic ability for priestly studies. In September 1952 he was promoted from Wilton to the Society’s novitiate and house of philosophy, at Kilcolgan, Co Galway. A year later, with a change in the structure of the formation program by the introduction of the ‘Spiritual Year’ at Kilcolgan, Joe went to Dromantine, the Society’s major seminary, to complete his philosophy course. He studied theology in Dromantine between 1954 and 1958. Throughout his studies Joe was regarded as a steady, generous, obliging, reliable and responsible student. The fact that he was eight to ten years older than his classmates did not deter him from participating fully in student life. He was a keen sportsman, being especially noted for his soccer prowess. It was evident also that, through his Kilkenny rearing, he had developed a strong interest in hurling, something which was to stay with him throughout his life. Joe was first received as a member of the Society on 14 June 1954. He became a permanent member on 12 June 1957. He was ordained a priest, by Bishop Eugene O'Doherty of Dromore diocese, in St. Colman's cathedral, Newry, on 18 June 1958. He was one of a group of twelve ordained on that day.

After ordination Joe was appointed to the diocese of Jos in northern Nigeria. The mission to the north had been pioneered in l907 when three SMA priests travelled to Shendam and established a station. A prefecture had been established in 1929 (the prefecture of Northern Nigeria) and in April 1934 this jurisdiction was divided into the separate prefectures of Jos and Kaduna. Jos became a diocese in 1953 after the Nigerian hierarchy had been erected. Joe was to minister in Jos diocese from 1958 until 1977, doing seven tours of duty. He worked in many of the diocese’s missions, including Akwange, Pankshin, St. Theresa’s (Jos city) and Shendam. The tropical climate did not always agree with him but he soldiered on bravely until 1977 when it became clear that he would no longer be able to work in Africa.

In 1977 Joe returned to Ireland for a rest. In the following year he commenced a number of pastoral assignments in the diocese of Leeds, in England. He was attached to St. Joseph’s Presbytery, Pakington Street, Bradford, West Yorkshire, until the end of 1978. He then was posted to St. Ann’s parish situated at 75 Edward Street, Bradford. From 1984 he ministered at St. Mary’s and St. Michael’s parish, Tillman Close, Settle, North Yorkshire. In the autumn of 1986 Joe retired to Castlecomer where he resided with his first cousin who was unwell. He remained there until 1989 during which he nursed his cousin and took on temporary pastoral assignments in the locality. In April 1989 he returned to England, where he assisted in the parish of the English Martyrs, Hardwick Road, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland (diocese of Hexham and Newcastle).

In 1992 ill-health led him to retire in the SMA house at Dromantine. He was to enjoy reasonable health over the next six years, despite undergoing heart by-pass surgery in 1993. A deterioration in health led to his transfer south to the SMA community at Wilton, where the house was more suitable for those in poor health and where hospital care was more easily accessible. The development of Leukaemia at this time necessitated frequent visits to hospital for blood transfusions. Initially such transfusions gave him remarkably renewed energy. Over time, however, they were to be come less and less effective. Joe moved to St. Theresa’s nursing unit, in the SMA House at Blackrock Road, in September 2002. Always cheerful and putting a bright face on his illness he soon became a popular member of the Blackrock Road community. In particular he greatly enjoyed and was greatly appreciated at social gatherings. Despite the difficult circumstances of his early years Joe had an optimistic outlook on life. He made friends easily and on his death was deeply mourned in Africa, Ireland and England.

He is buried in Wilton cemetery.