Philip Patrick Stephen Mulryne,
OP (born 1 January 1978) is a Northern Irish
Dominican friar and
priest in the
Catholic Church, and retired professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...
. Born in
Belfast, he started his career at
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
before playing more than 150 games for
Norwich City and was a
Northern Ireland international. After his retirement from football in 2008 Mulryne began studying for the
Roman Catholic priesthood. He was ordained as a
deacon in October 2016 and then as a priest on 8 July 2017.
Football career
Mulryne began his career as a youth team player at Manchester United in 1994. He was in the
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
winning team of 1995, and became a Northern Ireland international even before he made his first team debut. His full international debut came in February 1997 against
Belgium but Mulryne had to wait until the following October to make his debut for United against
Ipswich in the
League Cup (a 2–0 defeat). Despite being capable as a striker, midfielder or right winger, these positions were virtually monopolised by accomplished players such as
David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
,
Nicky Butt,
Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...
,
Andy Cole
Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Briti ...
and
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and so Mulryne only managed a handful of first-team games in five seasons at
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
. His only league appearance for United came on the last day of the 1997–98 season, in which he played the full 90 minutes against
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
.
Mulryne joined
Norwich City for £500,000 on 25 March 1999 in the hope of gaining more first-team opportunities. Mulryne made a promising start to his Norwich career, scoring an excellent free-kick in a televised 1–0 win at
Grimsby Town in
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
which was just his second appearance for Norwich. However, a broken leg sustained in a tackle with
Blackburn Rovers' Christian Dailly shortly after the start of the following season ruled him out for most of the
1999–2000 campaign.
In the
2001–02 season, Mulryne was a member of the Norwich team that reached the final of the
Division One
The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...
play-offs. The match ended 1–1 after extra time and Mulryne missed one of the spot-kicks in the subsequent shoot-out as
Birmingham City won 4–2 on penalties. Mulryne had missed another penalty earlier that season in a league match against
Gillingham at
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum.
N ...
, however Norwich won that game 2–1. Mulryne's contract was expiring that summer and there was speculation regarding his future until he signed a new three-year contract with Norwich.
He was part of the Norwich side that won promotion to the
Premier League as Division One champions in 2004, but they stayed there for only one season before being relegated. Mulryne then departed from
Carrow Road
Carrow Road is an association football stadium located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship side Norwich City. The stadium is located toward the east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum.
N ...
, cancelling his contract by mutual agreement shortly before it expired. He signed for
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
two months later.
On 30 August 2005, Mulryne was ejected from Northern Ireland's squad by manager
Lawrie Sanchez for a breach of discipline. He had made 27 appearances for the team, a highlight being a headed equaliser against Denmark in 2001.
At the end of the
2005–06 season, Mulryne was released from his contract at
Ninian Park having made only a handful of substitute appearances, and was not until January 2007 before he found a new club after spells having trials with amongst others, Ipswich Town,
Brighton & Hove Albion, Polish champions
Legia Warsaw
Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...
and
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
.
Manager
Martin Ling signed Mulryne for Leyton Orient on 23 January 2007 on a free transfer after impressing on a trial. He made his debut against Brighton & Hove Albion in a 4–1 home defeat on 13 February after 16 months without first team action. He was released at the end of the
2006–07 season, having helped Orient avoid relegation which had looked almost certain for much of the campaign.
He subsequently had a trial at
AFC Bournemouth
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...
and played in a friendly against
Southampton and then came a trial with
St Mirren in Scotland. On 25 October 2007, Mulryne joined King's Lynn FC on a non-contract basis. He was released by the club on 1 January 2008. It was announced on 14 March 2008 that Mulryne was training with
Cliftonville.
Ordained ministry
In 2009, at the age of 31, Mulryne began formation for the
Catholic priesthood.
It is understood he was invited to enter the priesthood by
Noël Treanor, the
Bishop of Down and Connor
The Bishop of Down and Connor is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Downpatrick (located in County Down) and the village of Connor (located in County Antrim) in Northern Ireland. The title is still used by the Catholic Chur ...
.
He had originally intended to become a
secular priest
In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogr ...
and so entered Saint Malachy's Seminary, Belfast, the seminary of the Diocese of Down and Connor.
During this time, he studied philosophy for two years at
Queen's University Belfast
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and the
Maryvale Institute
Maryvale Institute is a college of further and higher education, an International Catholic Distance-Learning College for Catechesis, Theology, Philosophy and Religious Education in Old Oscott, Great Barr, Birmingham, England. It specialises in t ...
.
He then moved to the
Pontifical Irish College
The Pontifical Irish College is a Roman Catholic seminary for the training and education of priests, in Rome. The College is located at #1, Via dei Santi Quattro, and serves as a residence for clerical students from all over the world. Designated ...
in
Rome and studied theology at the
Pontifical Gregorian University.
Having felt a call to a
religious life
Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...
during his studies, Mulryne entered the
novitiate
The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...
of the
Order of Preachers (Dominicans), at
St Mary's Priory, Cork, in 2012.
On 11 September 2016, he made his
profession to become a Dominican
friar at
St Saviour's Priory, Dublin
St. Saviour's Priory, Dublin, is a convent of the Dominican Order, in Dublin, founded in 1224. Its present church has, since 1974, has also served as a parish church for the local area, .
On 29 October 2016, he was ordained a
deacon by
Diarmuid Martin
Diarmuid Martin (born 8 April 1945) is the retired Roman Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland. Martin was ordained a priest in 1969 and represented the Holy See at major United Nations International Conferences before becoming th ...
, the
Archbishop of Dublin
The Archbishop of Dublin is an archepiscopal title which takes its name after Dublin, Ireland. Since the Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic successions to the title: one in the Catholic Church and the other in the Church of Irelan ...
. On 8 July 2017, he was ordained a priest by Archbishop
Joseph Augustine Di Noia
Joseph Augustine Di Noia (born July 10, 1943) is an American member of the Dominican Order who is a Roman Catholic archbishop and theologian. Since 2013 he has been Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He has ...
at St Saviour's Priory.
He presided at his first
Mass on 10 July 2017 at St Oliver Plunkett Church, Belfast. In 2019, he was posted to St Mary's Priory Church, Pope's Quay in
Cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
as
novice master: St Mary's is the
Noviciate House for the Dominicans' Province of Ireland.
References
External links
*
Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mulryne, Philip
1978 births
Living people
Cardiff City F.C. players
Manchester United F.C. players
Association footballers from Belfast
Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland men's international footballers
Norwich City F.C. players
Leyton Orient F.C. players
Premier League players
Roman Catholic priests from Northern Ireland
Members of the Dominican Order
Irish Dominicans
Pontifical Irish College alumni
Men's association football midfielders
Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni