From the Hills of Magheracloone to the River at Maudabawn

Obituary

St. Patrick’s Church, Maudabawn, was packed to capacity for the funeral Mass of Fr Michael Gilsenan, S.S.C.C. on Monday, 23rd July. The Mass was celebrated by Fr Michael Ruddy, S.S.C.C., with Bishops Martin Hayes, Leo O’Reilly and Larry Duffy, and with priests from the Sacred Heart Community, and Kilmore and Clogher dioceses. Fr John Cooney, P.P., Drumgoon, led the Service the previous evening as Fr Michael’s remains were taken into the church. The combined choirs of St Patrick’s, Maudabawn and St Michael’s, Cootehill provided the music. An Honour Guard was assembled from several organisations in the parish. Symbols representing his clerical life and his community work were brought to the alter.

Fr Michael was born on 4th November, 1939, in Magheracloone, Co Monaghan. The eldest child of Bennie Gilsenan and Bridgid Lambe. It was a happy childhood, in a thatched house, surrounded by his extended family; grandmother, uncle, his siblings Catherine, Brian, Teresa, P.J., Peadar, Eugene and Noel, all the farm animals and a dog called Hitler.

He attended the local school and then went on to the Brothers in Carrickmacross where unfortunately things did not go so well. Nearly 80 years later he still bore two scars on his right wrist, put there by the cane of a cruel brother. He transferred to St Macartan’s, Monaghan, where he enjoyed his education and could always remember the names of his classmates there.

So why did Fr Michael become a priest? A cousin priest blessed his injured knee? A cousin nun suggested he join an Order? A local priest who visited his grandmother every First Friday? A story in a schoolbook about Damien of Mulokai? When he saw a picture of the opening of Tanagh in the Northern Standard he got on his bike and headed there. What he saw there impressed him and he joined the Novitiate at Tanagh.

Life in Tanagh was good. The students worked on the farm, prayed and studied, until on the 15th August, 1959, Michael J. Gilsenan made his Solemn First Profession. Six days later he and 22 others boarded the ship “Britannica” and set sail for New Hampshire, USA, and the Sacred Heart seminary. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1965 at Tanagh.

The Sacred Heart Community had just established Damien High School in California. Fr Michael went there to teach Spanish.

By the early 1970’s the attitude of society towards children with special needs was improving. Fr Michael was appointed Chaplain to Pacific State Hospital, Pomona. This was a turning point in his life. It became his passion. It was his forte. Within a year he was Diocesan Director of Special Needs. He designed a Mass which he used with special needs children. “We use all the senses,” he said. “Muscle, sight, hearing and touch.” The Readings at the Mass were aided by a slide show. The Religious Editor of the Times (California) said it was the first Mass centred on the congregation rather than on the priest. Fr Michael preached in churches all over California; “The basic value and dignity of a human person is neither increased nor lessened by his mental abilities.” On Christmas Day, 1974, he preached at 06.00, 07.00, 08.00, 09.30, 10.45 and 12.00 Masses. His own Mass, with over 250 special needs children and their families was broadcast on California TV Channel 5.

In the 1980’s Fr Michael came back to Ireland, taking up a position with the Saint John of God Brothers in Celbridge, Co Kildare. But he spent most of his time in or around Magheracloone researching his book, The Hills of Magheracloone. This is a detailed account of 100 years of football in the parish and much more. At this time too he also began to work on his Family Tree and wrote an article on the concept of the “Gallery” in a church.

When Fr Michael joined the Sacred Heart Mission in Ecudor he worked with communities there that suffered with Leprosy and many other infectious diseases. This experience served him well during Covid. He respected the danger but was not afraid. While he was there to bring the Christian message he also knew that what the people needed was clean drinking water. The people of Ecuador relied on the tangerine for food and hydration. (So started his obsession with the tangerine.) “Padre Miguel” and the Sacred Heart Mission installed water pipes at villages in Ecudor.

As his health improved after illness Fr Michael took up the position of curate in Clontibret, Co Monaghan, in 2006. America called again and he was appointed pastor of St Paul’s, San Bernadino, California in 2008. When the Sacred Heart Community decided to no longer continue in parish work there Fr Michael came back to Ireland where he negotiated a deal with Bishop Leo O’Reilly. He would be Chaplain to the Holy Family School and could help out as curate and live in Maudabawn.

When he came to Maudabawn almost 10 years ago we didn’t really know what to make of Fr Michael. His energy. His enthusiasm. His dedication. His determination. There was a sense of dread when he took the microphone in his hand. At a wedding he might talk to random members of the congregation about their marriage! At a funeral he might speak directly to the body in the coffin, often asking the impossible question; how many times had this person recited the “Our Father?”

He loved all the church ceremonies; weddings, funerals, christenings, Easter and especially Christmas because that’s when the children were out. He loved to get outside to celebrate Mass at Poulty Mass Rock, Drumgoon Hill, Dernakesh school or at the Grotto. The more people he could involve the better.

He was our priest. We were his community. He supported every football team. The tangerines at half-time are legendary. He attended nearly every social event and loved being involved, at the threshing or the tractor runs, the table quizzes or the dramas. He was first in the cockpit when “The Man Who Wanted To Fly” landed in Maudabawn.

His favourite way to relax was to watch what he called ‘A Cowboy’. I think he liked the Western film because in a Western the good guy always wins in the end. We know that as Fr Michael rides into the sunset, all is well with the good guy.

Born in the hills of Magheracloone his remains now lie at rest overlooking the river at Maudabawn.

The Month’s Memory Mass for Fr Michael Gilsenan, S.S.C.C. will be celebrated in St Patrick’s Church , Maudabawn on Saturday, July 26, at noon.