In the mid-1980s I was working with the chaplaincy team, which served the universities in West Berlin.
I wrote a letter to the Irish daily newspapers welcoming Irish visitors to call on the chaplaincy centre, which was off Kurfürstendamm.
Soon after the appearance of the letter I met Harris. He responded to the letter and commented that he saw it as a cry of lonliness on my part.
Back in the 1970s when teaching in Newbridge College, walking across the quad, he greeted a student, saying simply, "Skelly". Like a shot, "Skelly" quickly replied, "Harris".
And Harris would like that.
Gerard Skelly later joined the Dominicans, was ordained a priest, left the provine and tragically died at a young age.
Many fellow Dominicans, maybe those who admired him, called him simply 'Harris'.
The Irish Dominicans have lost a character, a clever man too.
His friendship was a life-long affair. He was regularly to be seen, sitting down the church, at the funerals of friends, Dominicans, past pupils.
He was born on August 8, 1938.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Featured Post
A quiet space offers staff a chance to relax and recharge
This week’s Mediahuis Irish regional newspapers’ column. Michael Commane A cousin of mine, who works here in Ireland for a multi national c...
-
Dominican priest Leo Donovan died in Kiltipper Woods Care Centre, Tallaght on Saturday morning, February 17. Leo had been over two years in ...
-
Seósamh Laurence Collins died in Tallaght University Hospital in the early hours of Monday morning, January 22. Larry, as he was known in t...
-
John O’Rourke was born in Newry on November 14, 1939. He joined the Dominican Order in September 1958 and was ordained a priest in July 1965...
7 comments:
Post a Comment