Maurice Cunningham died
yesterday, Sunday June 13 in Sligo Nursing Home, Ballytivnan. He had been a member of the Holy Cross community in Sligo for a number of years.
Sean Cunningham, born in 1931, was given the name Maurice when he joined the Dominicans in St Mary’s Priory, Pope’s Quay, Cork in September 1954.
He studied philosophy and theology in the Dominican studium in Tallaght and was ordained a priest in July 1960.
Seán was born into a farming family outside Omagh. He had 12 siblings, one of whom died in childhood.
His father, Patrick Cunningham was an abstentionist MP representing the Nationalist Party for the constituency of Fermanagh and Tyrone, being elected to the House of Commons in 1935.
Two of Seán’s brothers were Holy Ghost/Spiritan priests. One brother, Tom died of Covid in January and another brother, Colum was president of Rockwell College. A third brother was a priest in the US.
Seán was 23 when he joined the Dominicans and in those days he would have been considered ‘a late vocation’.
Before joining the Order Seán had obtained an LLB in Queens University, Belfast and a BA in history and English in UCC.
After his priestly ordination he did post graduate studies in theology at La Sarte in Belgium and at the University of St Thomas in Rome.
He was one of a group of Irish Dominicans, who went to Nagpur in India, to establish the Order on the sub-continent.
On one occasion, while giving a retreat in northern India he was shot by bandits. Fortunately, the wounds were superficial and he suffered no longterm ill-effects.
Seán was a pleasant and gentle man who was extremely good in community. Once a decision was made he gave it his complete support.
Because of his strong republican views, which he was not slow to express, he was moved in the early 1970s from the priory in Newry to Tralee.
He was engaged in pastoral work in the Kerry capital, where he was appreciated and respected and made a number of lasting friendships. From Tralee he moved to Waterford.
A Dominican who lived with Seán in Waterford said of him: “He was a zealous, apostolic and prayerful man and easy to get on with.”
Seán was conservative in his theological and social views. On one occasion he caused controversy on RTE Radio 1’s Marian Finucane Show because of strongly-held views he expressed on issues surrounding marriage.
He was a dedicated pastoral man, who made it his business to be available to those who attended Dominican churches.
Seán gave much of his energy to the pro-life movement and had a lifelong devotion to Our Lady.
On arrival in Dundalk he expressed a wish that he would see Tyrone footballers win a Senior All-Ireland Championship and that Antrim would win a Senior All-Ireland Hurling Championship.
His hopes for Antrim were never realised but the Tyrone footballers won three All-Irelands.
A week before the 1995 Tyrone Dublin final Seán was asked to bless the Tyrone team, which he duly did.
The following Sunday Dublin beat Tyrone by one point. The final score was Dublin 1 -10, Tyrone 0 - 12.
It was the source of good fun in the community as the late Andrew Kane, who was a staunch Dublin supporter, was regularly teased for never having been asked to bless the Dublin team.
Seán was a mild-mannered man, who spoke in a most gentle manner. He was also a hospitable person, who always received visitors with open arms and made them feel most welcome. He was gentle but brave.
May he rest in peace.
Requiem Mass will be on Wednesday, June 16 at 2.30pm in Holy Cross Priory, Sligo.
No comments:
Post a Comment