Fr Leo McDonnell, late of St John’s Cathedral and St Michael’s Church, Denmark Street, Limerick city, passed away in the wonderful care of Milford Care Centre on Saturday.
Three years ago, Fr Leo commissioned the repair of a unique golden monument depicting Archangel Michael atop St Michael’s Church. It was one of many acts of kindness.
The statue was first unveiled on September 29, 1881 and was almost beyond repair but thanks to Fr Leo’s foresight it will continue to light up the night sky above the city (pictured below).
Bishop of Limerick, Brendan Leahy led the tributes, saying Fr Leo was much loved, as seen by the great outpouring of support and prayer he received in his recent weeks of illness.
“If it’s true that you die as you live, we can say that Fr Leo lived with great trust in God’s ways and providence.
“He certainly showed that in his acceptance of death, once he was told he had only a short time to live. Fr Leo exhibited what Teresa of Lisieux calls confidence in God’s love, with a child-like faith and trust that remains an example for us,” said Bishop Leahy.
Reposing at St John’s Cathedral this Monday evening from 7pm to 8.30pm. Requiem Mass on Tuesday at noon with burial afterwards in Mount St Lawrence Cemetery.
Predeceased by his parents Dr Leo and Margaret and sisters Moira (Fitzgerald) and Leonie (MacCarvill) and brother Charlie.
Sadly missed by his loving brother-in-law David, nephews, nieces, Bishop Brendan Leahy and the priests of the diocese, his cousin Fr Luke Macnamara, Glenstal Abbey, extended family and a wide circle of friends.
Fr Leo, of Barrington Street, Limerick city was the youngest of Dr Leo McDonnell and Margaret Nicholas’ four children.
As a child he would accompany his father to St John’s Hospital when his father, an ear, nose, throat (ENT) and eye surgeon, would go to visit patients.
Fr Macnamara said Fr Leo always remembered the care and honour his father showed to all, irrespective of status or wealth.
“The death of his father when he was only 11-years-old had a profound impact on Leo. He and his next youngest sister Moira developed a closeness through those years that would endure their whole lives and continued with Moira’s family.
“He started his working life in the catering industry spending many years in the Trust Forte Hotels in the UK where he made many life-long friends. Returning to Ireland he worked for a short time in Ryan hotels,” said Fr Macnamara.
Fr Leo had a near-death experience when he wrote off his car in a serious accident outside Gort but miraculously suffered only a broken nose.
Shortly afterwards and following the death of his mother, he entered seminary in Thurles in 1987 for Limerick Diocese. In those days, 36-year-old was considered a late vocation, said Fr Macnamara.
“He embraced seminary life and was thankful for his years of formation. Ordained in 1993, he spent a year in Salthill, then Our Lady of the Rosary, followed by Abbeyfeale and Templeglantine.
“Fr Leo remarked that his principal teachers of theology were the faithful who he met every day in his ministry. What he learned in textbooks in Thurles came to life in his pastoral encounters. Fr Leo sensed that his life was guided by divine providence.
“The observing of his father’s care for his patients and the early experience of bereavement as a child equipped him with a sensitivity to the needs of others, particularly when accompanying families at funerals. The sense of God’s guiding hand in his life only increased when he came to live at the Cathedral presbytery and serve in both the Cathedral and also St Michael’s as parish priest.
“During this time, he often found himself walking the same corridors in St John’s Hospital where his father Leo and grandfather Charlie both worked for many years. Leo had a profound sense of continuing in their ministry of service in his duties as chaplain. It was also here in the Cathedral pastoral unit that he conducted very many funerals and found time for every family,” said Fr Macnamara.
From his catering days, Fr Leo developed many skills, organisational and culinary which he put to use in his various postings. He was a great host, had a very understated manner, was never boasting of his achievements and always sought to recognise the good in others.
“Fr Leo took such great joy when he learned of a parishioner’s recovery from illness or of a young person who turned their life around. He was a true pastor.
“He took great joy in the recent restoration and illumination of the St Michael the Archangel statue on the roof of St Michael’s church. This is more than the repair of a statue – it links Limerick city with a series of prominent sites linked with St Michael, running from Skellig Michael through St Michael’s mount in Cornwall, Mont Saint Michel off Normandy through others in Italy and Greece to Mount Carmel in the Holy Land.
“This line represents the sword of St Michael which provides protection and places of prayer where God is felt to be close. This protection and patronage of St Michael now extends to Limerick city,” said Fr Macnamara.
“He was convinced that the fruit of those prayers bestowed upon him peace and acceptance. He died peacefully in the presence of family members at Milford Hospice on Saturday, April 12, the eve of Palm Sunday. The prayers of this Holy week remind us of God’s great love for us – in which Leo trusted to the end,” said Fr Macnamara.
May he rest in peace.