Obituary Notice
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Timothy O'Regan 1903 - 1971 OBITUARY NOTICE OF REV. FATHER TIMOTHY O'REGAN, C.P. The beginning of the New Year of 1971 was overshadowed with great sorrow and grief at Holy Gross, Ardoyne, Belfast, with the sudden and unexpected death of Father Timothy O'Regan. Although unwell, he fulfilled all his many parochial duties, especially in the Confessional, until Christmas Day and afterwards, his passing to God came as a very real shock to the Community and the Parishioners of Holy Cross., on Saturday, 2nd January, 1971. A native of Drimoleague, Co. Cork, where he was born on April 19th, 1903, he entered the Passionist Novitiate, The Graan, Enniskillen, in 1921, where he was Professed in January, 1922. His Studendate was spent at Saint Paul's Retreat, Ilkley, Yorkshire, England, where he was ordained to the Priesthood on January, 13th, 1929. After his ordination, he was transferred to Parochial work in Saint Mungo's Retreat, Glasgow, where he was appointed Vice-Rector from 1936 to 1941. During this period, in addition to his parochial assignments, he was Director of a Girls! Club which included 500 members, all of whom he knew by name and helped personally, and for his work as Chaplain, especially during the war years, he received special Commendation from the local Authorities. In 1941, he was transferred to Holy Gross, Ardoyne, where he was engaged in Parochial work until 1953., when he was appointed to Saint Mary's Retreat, Musselburgh, Scotland. In 1956 he returned to Holy Cross, Ardoyne, where he remained until his death. ; In addition to his Parochial duties, Father Timothy was in great demand for Missions and Retreats in various parts of the country, especially in his native County of Cork. Perhaps, the best tribute that can be given to Father Timothy is that we, his colleagues, saw in him a priest who gave himself, selflessly and unreservedly to the people committed to his care. Also, as a member of his Community, he was the welcome source of humour, wit, happiness and cooperation, for which we shall not easily forget him. The enormous crowd of Parishioners who were present at the Concelebrated Mass for the removal of his Remains to the Church and at the Obsequies, which was attended by Most Rev. Dr. Philbin, Bishop of Down and Connor, and the Provincial, Very Rev. Father Valentine McMurray, C.P., and a large representation of the Clergy of the Diocese, were an indication of the esteem and affection in which he was held by all, young and old, of the clergy and people alike. All of us, his brethren and people for whom he laboured so assiduously, to the end, have been given an incentive to give all that we have to the advancement of the Apostolate of Jesus Christ. Signed: Columb O'Donnell C.P. Rector Fr. Timothy of the Mother of God (Daniel O'Regan) 2nd Jan. 1971 Fr. Timothy was found dead in bed in Holy Cross Retreat, Ardoyne, Belfast on the morning of January 2nd 1971. He was the 5th senior in the famous ‘Class of SIXTEEN' (ordained in 1929). A Co. Cork man, he was born 19th April 1902. He was in the Juniorate, when it was at Ardoyne, Belfast, and leaving there with two fellow Postulants, John Fisher, from Sutton, Lancs, and Patrick Clarke, from Navan, they joined James O'Sullivan at Portadown railway Station on the 10th January 1921, taking the train from there to Enniskillen. There they were met by Fr. Eustace McAuley, with a sidecar, drawn by the famous horse ‘Diamond’, and reached the Graan at precisely 6 p.m., for the ‘Angelus’ rang out as they put foot to ground, and they said the prayer together. They were clothed on January the 27th. 1921. They were professed on January the 29th 1922, being a Sunday, it was a more convenient day. Now known as Cfrs. PAULINUS (Fisher), TIMOTHY (O'Regan) and FERGUS (Clarke), they went to Broadway, Worcs. Conf. DECLAN (O'Sullivan) had fallen ill with rheumatic fever and did not join them until Cfr. NINIAN (O'Connor) was professed in February. The class took some time to assemble, before beginning to study Philosophy, first under the lectorship of Fr. Kieran Farrelly, and then under Fr. Terence Barrett. In 1924, the class was transferred to St. Paul's Retreat, Ilkley, Yorks., where Fr. Terence taught them Theology, both Dogmatic and Moral. There Fr. TIMOTHY was ordained on January 13th 1929, with 15 other classmates by Bishop Cowgill of Leeds (who, by the way, had been ordained a priest by a Cardinal who had been raised to the priesthood by St. Pius X!) After ordination, when the class was dispersed (1927 had seen its members allotted to different Successor Provinces to the old ‘Anglo-Hibernian' Province of which they had been professed members), Fr. TIMOTHY was sent ‘de fa' to St. Mungo's, Glasgow, where he served for many, many years, being at one time its Vicar. Then, in the late 1930s or early 1940s he was transferred ‘de fa' to Holy Cross Retreat, Ardoyne. And there he died, as already mentioned, in 1971. Sources: Novitiate “Clothing and Profession’ Chapter books. Last ‘Anglo-Hib' Catalogue (1926) No. 133 Ist ‘St. Patrick's Province’ Cat. (1929), No. 59 Classmates memories.
Source: Obituary Notices, Provincial Archive, St Joseph's Province. Passionist Congregation.