Navan native who became head of missionary society

OBITUARY: Fr Peter Finegan

Fr Peter Finegan

Navan and Kiltegan, Co Wicklow

A wonderful human being and a kind, sensitive, and compassionate person to one and all, especially to those most in need wherever he worked as a missionary, was remembered at the funeral Mass of Fr Peter Finegan SPS at St Patrick’s Missionary Society, Kiltegan, Co Wicklow.

Fr Peter, who would have celebrated his 89th birthday on Friday 12th December, died on Monday 1st December at Tallaght Hospital, Dublin. He had been a familiar figure in his native Navan in recent years, living in retirement with his late sister, Mary, and often to be seen cycling around the town.

Fr Peter – known as Pete to his society colleagues - served two terms as Superior General of St Patrick’s Missionary Society.

He was born in December 1936 to Thomas Finegan, a publican on Ludlow Street, Navan, and his wife, Mary (nee Moore, Oldcastle), the second child of a family of four. They lost both parents at a very young age, and were cared for by their aunt, Kathleen Waters.

Peter attended primary school in Loreto Convent, Navan, from 1941 to 1946, and the De La Salle National School from 1946 to 1949. He went to St Patrick’s Classical School from 1949 to 1955 for his secondary education.

In September 1955, Fr Peter joined the Spiritual Year in Kiltegan. From 1956 to 1959 he studied for his degree in Cork and then returned to Kiltegan for theology. He was among 16 priests ordained for St Patrick’s Missionary Society in April 1963 by Bishop Patrick Cleary, SSC.

Fr Peter was then appointed to the diocese of Ogoja, Nigeria. He worked in the parishes of St Bridget’s, Umuezeoka, and St Mary’s, Afikpo, where he endured the terrible suffering of the Biafran War. He lived with Fr Rory O’Brien who wrote in his memoirs: “It was great to have Fr Peter with me in Afikpo. It gave me a new lease of life …. with his quiet, friendly presence.” Fr Rory died on Tuesday of last week and was remembered at Fr Peter’s funeral on Wednesday.

In 1969, Fr Peter was appointed to teach in St Patrick’s, Buchlyvie, Scotland, and then served as bursar in Kiltegan from 1971 to 1973. That year, he led the team to open the society’s new mission in the Archdiocese of Lusaka, Zambia.

At the General Chapter of 1978, Peter was elected the fifth Superior General of St Patrick’s Missionary Society. He was re-elected for a further six-year term in 1984. This was a period of great expansion and change within the order. It was during these years that membership reached its peak. Under his leadership, new missions in South Sudan, Cameroon, South Africa, and Zimbabwe were undertaken. Fr Peter was also instrumental in promoting and encouraging personal and spiritual renewal among the members.

After completing his term of office in 1990, Fr Peter took time to undertake personal renewal, which included training in counselling in England. This gave him an opportunity to receive personal therapy, which was a great help to him in later years when he worked in student formation.

In 1993, Fr Peter returned to Africa to work in the formation team of the Missionaries of St Paul in Iperu, Nigeria. When the society began admitting African students in 1997, he was appointed to the formation team accompanying the newly recruited Kenyan students, and was based in Nakuru, Kenya. After competing his time in the formation house in 2005, Fr Peter moved to Kibera and worked amongst the poor of Nairobi.

In 2008, he witnessed shocking violence in Nairobi in the wake of disputed presidential elections. But rather than being concerned for his own welfare, he highlighted how the shortage of food was the most serious problem facing the many thousands now displaced by the ethnic violence.

In 2010, he was appointed to St Patrick’s Parish, Bangladesh, Mombasa, where he ministered for the following nine years. In 2019, after a long and fruitful missionary career, Peter retired from Africa to live with Mary, at Trim Road, Navan.

St Patrick’s Missionary Society said he was a very committed missionary and a loyal servant of the society, always ready to go wherever he was needed. The leadership team and his colleagues recognised that Fr Peter was a man who could be relied on. Whenever a new mission or assignment was initiated, he was often called upon to begin the venture. He always took great care of those he worked with and asked for nothing in return. His leadership style was participative, and he considered the views and feelings of each society member when making appointments. He was very approachable and encouraged all members to undergo personal renewal and to keep up to date with what was new in theology and in Church teaching.

He touched the lives of everybody he met and was a great friend and a patient listener to many. When his brother, Willie, who ran the family public house and undertaking business, died aged 43 in 1983, Fr Peter was a huge support to Willie’s wife, Breda, and then infant daughter, Linda, and remained a constant in their lives, becoming a grandfather figure to Linda’s children.

He was also predeceased in 1996 by Fr Tommie, who was a twin brother to Willie, and was a member of the Divine Word Missionaries, based in Mexico. Mary, who worked with Meath County Council, died in June 2023.

Fr Peter is survived by his sister-in-law, Breda, Woodlands, Navan; his niece Linda Monaghan, Nobber; nephew-in-law, Paul, grandnieces, Grace and Sarah; grandnephew, Ben; cousins, and his Society family in Kiltegan. A month’s memory Mass for Fr Peter will take place in St Mary’s Church, Navan, on Saturday 17th January at 6pm.

Fr Rory O’Brien, whose funeral took place in his native Tullamore, Co Offaly, two days later, was brother to the late Mrs Rose Rispin, Grange, Bohermeen. He was ordained a member of Patrick’s Missionary Society in 1955. Prior to his missionary work, he won a Leinster minor football medal in 1947 and a Leinster junior hurling medal in 1953. In addition to representing his home club Ballinamere, he also won a SHC medal with Tullamore and a SFC medal with Durrow. For 60 years, Fr Rory served on the missions in Nigeria and Cameroon. His burial took place in Durrow cemetery following the Mass in Tullamore.