H. Ormonde McConnell,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(27 February 1904 – 5 January 1998) was an Irish Methodist minister and missionary in

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

Life

H. Ormonde McConnell was born in Clonakilty, County Cork on 27 February 1904. The family moved to Holywood, County Down when his father, Henry McConnell, was appointed as a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister there. At age 23, he competed at the World Convention at Crystal Palace and was part of the winning Irish relay team. He was invited to Lerry in 1927 to enter the Methodist ministry and to take up overseas service. He studied French at

Queen's University 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 = ...

, and theology at Edgehill Theological College. In 1933, he was appointed to

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, Haiti. On 6 July 1934, he married Primrose Beckett in Coke Memorial Church,

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

. They had four children, Patrick, Marian, Alec and Hazel. The couple lived in Haiti for 36 years. They learned Creole, and developed a written phonetic form of the language, which later became known as

McConnell–Laubach orthography The McConnell–Laubach orthography is the revised form of a previously proposed orthographic system for Haitian Creole. It was first developed by H. Ormonde McConnell and his wife Primrose in 1940, and then later revised by him and Frank Laubac ...

. They organised literacy programmes for children and adults and founded the Nouveau Collège Bird. They published a number of books on a wide variety of subjects in Creole. In 1954, McConnell received permission from President Magloire to build a new church and donated $15,000. McConnell's father-in-law,

George F. Beckett George F. Beckett (15 April 1877 – 21 November 1961) was an Irish architect. Early life and family George Francis Beckett was born in 7 Grosvenor Place, Rathmines, Dublin on 15 April or 5 July 1877. His parents were Frances (née Horner) and ...

, designed the church. When Hurricane Hazel hit Haiti in October 1954, McConnell was the chair of the

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

Committee. He was Haiti's administrator for Church World Services. He oversaw the establishment of 40 missions, as well as a farming training programme and the building of an aqueduct. For his work in Haiti, he was awarded the National Order of Honour and Merit by the Haitian government, and an

. He retired in 1970, and the couple returned to live in Holywood, County Down. In 1991, he published his memoir, ''Co-Workers with God''. McConnell died in Northwick House Residential Home for the Elderly,

Brookeborough Brookeborough (; Irish: ''Achadh Lon'', meaning 'Field of the Blackbirds') is a village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, at the westerly foot of Slieve Beagh. It lies about eleven miles east of Enniskillen, just off the A4 trunk road, and ...

, County Fermanagh on 5 January 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, H. Ormonde 1904 births 1998 deaths Irish Methodist missionaries Members of the Order of the British Empire Methodist missionaries in Haiti Irish expatriates in Haiti People from County Cork