Alexander Aloysius "Alan" McGuckian SJ (born 26 February 1953) is an Irish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop and Jesuit. Since 2017, he has been the

Bishop of Raphoe The Bishop of Raphoe ( ) is an episcopal title which takes its name after the town of Raphoe in County Donegal, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with another bis ...

. He is Ireland's first Jesuit bishop.

Early life and family

Born in 1953 in

Cloughmills Cloughmills or Cloghmills ( ) is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Ballymoney is 9 miles to the north-west and Ballymena is 10 miles to the south. It had a population of 1,309 people in the 2011 Census. It is in Causeway Coast and ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, ) is one of six counties of Northern Ireland and one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of and has a population o ...

, in the

Diocese of Down and Connor The Diocese of Down and Connor, ( ga, Deoise an Dúin agus Chonaire) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Northern Ireland. It is one of eight suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of the me ...

, he is the youngest son of Brian McGuckian and Pauline (née McKenna). His father was a successful pig farmer who, with his brothers, went on to develop the world's biggest pig farm. Two of his older brothers, Fathers Bernard and Michael, are also Jesuit priests, while another brother, John B., is a businessman. His sisters have both died, Paula Haughey (2013) and Mary Dynan (2018). McGuckian went to

The Queen's University of Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

in 1971 to study

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and philosophy, where he was a near contemporary of

Donal McKeown Dónal McKeown (born 12 April 1950) is a Roman Catholic prelate from Northern Ireland who has served as Bishop of Derry since 2014. Early life and education McKeown was born in Belfast on 12 April 1950, one of four children to James McKeown and ...

, later

Bishop of Derry The Bishop of Derry is an Episcopal polity, episcopal title which takes its name after the monastic settlement originally founded at Daire Calgach and later known as Daire Colm Cille, Anglicised as Derry. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a ...

, with whom he shared North Antrim roots and an education at

St MacNissi's College St MacNissi's College (now St Killian's College and colloquially known as Garron Tower) was a Roman Catholic grammar school located to the north of Carnlough. History The College is best known for its natural setting in grounds situated on a p ...

Garron Tower St MacNissi's College (now St Killian's College and colloquially known as Garron Tower) was a Roman Catholic grammar school located to the north of Carnlough. History The College is best known for its natural setting in grounds situated on a ...

Religious life

After one year in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, he joined the Jesuit novitiate ( Manresa House) in Clontarf in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, continuing his university education in

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(U.C.D.), specifically for a degree in Spanish and Latin. He graduated in 1977 and progressed to study Philosophy in the Jesuit

Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy Milltown may refer to: * Mill town, a settlement that developed around one or more mills Places Canada *Milltown, New Brunswick * Milltown, Newfoundland and Labrador * Milltown, Ontario Ireland * Milltown, Ballymore, a townland in Ballymore civ ...

and then Theology in the

Toronto School of Theology The Toronto School of Theology (TST) is an ecumenical consortium of seven theological colleges and is affiliated with the University of Toronto. TST is the largest ecumenical consortium for theological education in Canada. Its seven member schools ...

(the Jesuit Regis College, University of Toronto), qualifying with a M.Div and STL. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1984 and spent a short time teaching in

Clongowes Wood College Clongowes Wood College SJ is a voluntary boarding school for boys near Clane, County Kildare, Ireland, founded by the Jesuits in 1814, which features prominently in James Joyce's semi-autobiographical novel ''A Portrait of the Artist as a Yo ...

. In 1992 he was appointed Director of the Jesuit Communications Centre and in that role he developed the website www.sacredspace.ie, which allowed people to pray at their computer. From 2011 to 2017 he worked full-time in the Living Church office of the Diocese of Down and Connor. In 2012 he co-authored a play, ''1912 – A Hundred Years On'', with the Irish Presbyterian historian Philip Orr, which looked at experience of the

Ulster Covenant Ulster's Solemn League and Covenant, commonly known as the Ulster Covenant, was signed by nearly 500,000 people on and before 28 September 1912, in protest against the Third Home Rule Bill introduced by the British Government in the same year. ...

and the wider Home Rule movement from both nationalist and unionist perspective. Bishop McGuckian gained a Masters in Irish Translation from Queen's University, Belfast. He wrote ''Finding God in the Mess: Meditations for Mindful Living,'' published in 2017. In 2019, he said having a home is as fundamental as the right to life and education and that the Government must be "pushed" to enshrine housing in the constitution.

Episcopal Ministry

On 9 June 2017, it was announced that he had been appointed

. On 6 August 2017, he was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

a bishop by

Eamon Martin Eamon Martin KC*HS (born 30 October 1961) is a prelate of the Catholic Church from Northern Ireland who has been Archbishop of Armagh and the Primate of All Ireland since 2014. Early life and education Martin was born in Derry, Northern Irela ...

Primate of All Ireland The Primacy of Ireland was historically disputed between the Archbishop of Armagh and the Archbishop of Dublin until finally settled by Pope Innocent VI. ''Primate'' is a title of honour denoting ceremonial precedence in the Church, and in t ...

and

Archbishop of Armagh In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdio ...

. He uses the name and title ''Alan Mac Eochaigáin, C. Í.'' when ministering in the

Gaeltacht ( , , ) are the districts of Ireland, individually or collectively, where the Irish government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant vernacular, or language of the home. The ''Gaeltacht'' districts were first officially recog ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McGuckian, Alan Living people 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ireland 20th-century Irish Jesuits Alumni of Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy Alumni of University College Dublin Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Roman Catholic bishops of Raphoe People from County Antrim 1953 births Jesuit bishops 21st-century Irish Jesuits