Tributes paid after sad passing of much-loved Parish Priest Fr Connie Kelleher

A much-loved Parish Priest was remembered recently in the last parish in which he served.

At the annual cemetery Mass held recently at Saint Mary’s Church in Touraneena, celebrated by Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan assisted by Fr Garrett Desmond, large numbers of people were present to remember not only their close family and friends, but also Fr Connie Kelleher (pictured below) who served as Parish Priest of Touraneena and The Nire from July 1996 up to his untimely death in March 2020, weeks short of when he would have celebrated being a priest in the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore.

The eldest son of Humphrey and Delia Kelleher, Fr Connie was raised in Abbeyside along with his brothers Humphrey, Jimmy and John, his sisters Breda, Sheila, Anne, Claire, Mary and Sr Maria Goretti.

Jimmy, John and Mary all sadly died before him.

Fr Connie received his early education at the Mercy Convent in Dungarvan and Abbeyside National School from where he moved to Dungarvan CBS and then onto St John’s Seminary in Waterford where he studied prior to his Ordination in June 1970 by the late Bishop of Waterford and Lismore, Dr Michael Russell, celebrating his first mass at the church in the old Mercy Convent in Dungarvan.

Fr Connie served for a short while in England after his ordination before returning home where he was posted to the position of Curate based in Kilgobinet for whom he played hurling, the game that he loved to play and watch all of his life.

After leaving Kilgobinet he served in a number of Parishes including a newly created Saint Paul’s Parish in Waterford City and Stradbally before arriving in Newcastle and Fourmilewater.

Here he became a firm favourite with many and life could get very interesting when Waterford and Tipperary played in the League or Championship against each other.

He was transferred to Cappoquin in 1993 where he would spend three years.

In July 1996 the then Bishop of Waterford and Lismore William Lee made Fr Connie a Parish Priest and appointed him to the Parish of Touraneena and The Nire replacing Fr Michael Power who was retiring on grounds and also the last Curate of the Parish, Fr Pat Hayes who was moved to the Cathedral Parish after three years work in West Waterford.

Like every other Parish in which he served, Fr Connie quickly became a firm favourite.
The young people of the parish loved him and he loved them, encouraging them all the time to get the best out of them whatever their level of ability, while the older people especially the sick and the housebound loved to see him call to them on his regular visits.

In both Touraneena and The Nire he took an interest in all that was happening.

He undertook a great deal of work on the Grounds of Saint Mary’s Church in Touraneena and Saint Helena’s Church in The Nire.

He had a way about him when it came to getting things done.

He would only have to say something needed to be done at mass or a Parish Committee meeting and he would have a large number of people during up to do whatever needed to be done, and never asked for anything to be done that he would not be willing to roll up his sleeves, light up a cigarette and get involved himself.

His way saved the parish a great deal of money and some projects went out to tender.

There were however projects that needed to be done by people who needed certain qualifications. This often involved paying out large sums of money, but this did not bother Fr Connie.

He knew the money would come from somewhere and did not agree to look for loans which of course would come with interest attached.

The heating in the Church in The Nire needed replacing but this was not a worry. He knew that whatever it would cost would be raised.

In Touraneena he wanted the stained glass windows protected from the elements and at the same time the school in Touraneena was in need of some fundraising.

Once the idea of a joint fundraiser which involved a Who Wants to be a Thousandaire night was put to him he was all for it, with whatever money was raised split two equal ways, he called a meeting, but a committee in place that worked for nearly 12 months. Over €40,000 was raised.

When he announced that the church in Touraneena needed to be rewired, reroofed, the heating system replaced and the church painted outside with new floor covering placed inside the building he was again responded to by the people of the parish.

A weekly collection over a number of years was taken up with the money banked in a separate bank account.
Quotes were sought for the work that needed to be done, and it was only when there was enough money in the account was the go ahead given for the work to be done, which took a number of months.

He was someone that knew no Parish boundaries.

If a priest was wanted where one in any given parish was not available, if he was free he would travel to where he was needed, regardless of what time of the day or night it was.

Such a favourite was he, he was often asked by former parishioners to marry them, to baptise their children and to be with them when they buried their loved ones.

He was what many would call a model priest.

On Ash Wednesday in 2020, Fr. Connie said his usual 10am mass in Touraneena distributing ashes amongst those present and making sure that there was some available for those who might be housebound that could be brought home by those at mass.

After mass he made the short journey to the school to distribute ashes to the children.

Fr Connie loved the young people and it was fitting that this was one of his last acts as a priest.

Mass was to take place in the Nire that evening, but when he did not show up everyone present knew that something was wrong.

Fr Connie would not miss mass without a good reason and if he had to he would have someone lined up to replace him.

Late that night and early the next morning people learned that Fr Connie had taken ill after he got back home after visiting the school in Touraneena.

It was learned that he was found in his home seriously sick by a family member and that he was brought to hospital and the news was not good.

On the morning of March 2, the people of Touraneena and The Nire woke to the news that Fr Connie, their much-loved Parish Priest, had died. Few wanted to believe it.

Sadly it was true.

Over the coming days everyone spoke of Fr Connie.

Many stories were told, some of which could not be put into any publication.

His remains were brought to the Kiely Funeral Home in Dungarvan where huge numbers showed up to file past his open coffin and to meet his brother and sisters, his nephews and nieces.

Later that evening he was brought to the church in Touraneena where he lay overnight.

The following day the church was packed to capacity with many only finding standing room, with hundreds more standing outdoors as his great friend Fr Gerry Condon assisted by up to 30 other priests celebrated Mass, after which he was brought to the Church in Dungarvan where he was buried alongside his parents and brother John who predeceased him by just over nine months, someone he missed a great deal and would have spoken a lot about between his death and his own.
Covid-19 arrived in Ireland soon after the death of Fr Connie Kelleher.

Many people who loved him so much did not get to attend a Month’s Mind Mass for him or to attend a first anniversary Mass for him.

With the country now much more opened than it was in the last two years since Fr Connie Kelleher died suddenly after a short illness, and a small group of people came up with the idea of a permanent memorial to him. A plaque in the church in Touraneena, a place where he would have celebrated thousands of masses, was decided as a suitable way of remembering him.

Local undertaker David Kiely agreed to sponsor the plaque which everyone that has seen it has commented on it.

Inscribed on the plaque is something that sums up Fr Connie, “You taught us, You prayed with us, You cared for us”.

During the Mass another way to remember Fr Connie was explained by Bishop Cullinan.

A collection was taken up during the Mass for the first time to help maintain the cemetery for which Bishop Cullinan highly complimented.

It was announced that half of the money collected would go to a parish in Kenya that Bishop Cullinan had visited recently.

The money collected would go towards the building of an extension to a school visited by Bishop Cullinan which would carry the name of Fr Connie Kelleher, a fitting tribute to a man who took a great interest in the young people in all parishes he worked in and was no stranger to the schools in the area.

Supplied by Thomas Keane