Canon celebrates 50 years in priesthood

Jul 1 2009 by Graham Mann, East Kilbride News

Canon celebrates 50 years in priesthood

CANON Michael Ryan, parish priest of St Bride's Church, celebrated his 50th anniversary in the priesthood just days after his long-term friend Canon Michael MacNamee’s golden jubilee celebrations.

Family members, fellow clergy, guests from the local community, friends and parishioners gathered at East Kilbride’s Holiday Inn on Thursday, June 25, to pay tribute to Canon Ryan.

And a special welcome was extended to Canon MacNamee, parish priest of St Leonard's Church.

The two men met in September 1953 on their first day in St Patrick's seminary in County Tipperary, when the two young men were embarking on a five-year course of study which would result in their becoming priests on the same day and travelling to Scotland to start their respective ministries.

This was to be a friendship which flourished and continued - and what better way for that to happen than by the two men eventually becoming parish priests in East Kilbride.

The evening was a joyful occasion, beginning with Mass in a packed church and followed by a reception for over 200 people in the Holiday Inn in East Kilbride.

More than 20 of Canon Ryan's fellow priests concelebrated Mass with him, as well as Bishop Joseph Devine.

The ministers of local Church of Scotland congregations were also present, a reflection of the strong ecumenical links which exist between St Bride's and other East Kilbride churches, nurtured in part by Canon Ryan during his time at St Bride's.

Among Canon Ryan's other guests were Provost Russell Clearie and several South Lanarkshire councillors, as well as very many members of the Canon's extended family - young , old and in-between - who had travelled from England and various parts of Ireland to join him on this splendid evening.

Canon Ryan has been the much-loved parish priest of St Bride's for almost 20 years.

His arrival in St Bride's was something of a wheel coming full circle in that he was appointed as a newly ordained priest to Our Lady of Lourdes, East Kilbride, in July 1959.

Having spent seven years there, he went on to serve in other parishes in Hamilton, Motherwell, Newarthill and Glasgow, before returning to East Kilbride, the new town he had grown to love.

In fact, Canon Ryan looks upon the parishioners of St Bride's as his second family, and the happy atmosphere generated at his celebration Mass and reception, as well as at the more informal party in the church hall on the afternoon of June 14, were witness to the high esteem in which he is held and the real affection which is felt towards him.

Both Canon Ryan and Canon MacNamee reflected on their sailing in July 1959 from Belfast up the Broomielaw into Glasgow in the days before cheap flights and fast trains. Their pioneering spirit led them to 'boldly go' to Scotland. On Thursday, Canon Ryan's family and his many friends were pleased to be able to celebrate with him his wonderful achievement of 50 years of service, almost 30 of which have been in East Kilbride.