James McDyer

Father James McDyer (1910–1987), was a Catholic priest and campaigner for the rights of disadvantaged and underdeveloped rural areas of Ireland.

Biography

He was born, youngest of seven children, in Kilraine in Glenties, County Donegal, on 14 September 1910. He attended Glenties National School before going to Saint Eunan's College, Letterkenny. In 1930, he went on to St. Patrick's College, Maynooth to study for the priesthood. He was ordained on 20 June 1937. He served as a priest in London during the Blitz, in Wandsworth and in Kent,[1] and back in Donegal on Tory Island from 1947.[2]

In 1951, Fr. McDyer was appointed to Glencolmcille in the Donegal Gaeltacht, where he developed community facilities (at the time the area did not have electricity) and supported initiatives to stop the decline of the area, by developing local industries and the folk village and museum.[3] He was a Canon of Church at the time of his retirement in 1986. He died the following year on November 25th 1987 in his sleep.

References

  1. ↑ Champion of the Marginalised by Fr. Kevin Hegarty, Mayo News, 5 October 2010.
  2. ↑ Making the News Donegal Democrat, 27 August 2009.
  3. ↑ Athar Mhic Daidhir / Father McDyer Glencolmcille Folk Village
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