The Priests are a classical musical group, made up of three Roman Catholic priests from 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 ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. Fr. Eugene and his brother Fr. Martin O'Hagan are originally from the village of

Claudy Claudy () is a village and townland (of 1,154 acres) in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It lies in the Faughan Valley, southeast of Derry, where the River Glenrandal joins the River Faughan. It is situated in the civil parish of Cumber Upp ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

with the family now residing in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

whilst Fr. David Delargy is from

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

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 ...

Early career

The trio have been singing together since they boarded in the 1970s as students 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, County Antrim. After signing a deal with

SonyBMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

in April 2008, the priests, all from the Diocese of Down & Connor, recorded their debut album, "The Priests", in Northern Ireland and Rome, with the unusual honour of having been allowed to record in

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

, The Vatican.

Career

2008: ''The Priests''

The eponymous album was released in Ireland on 14 November 2008 by

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

and has since been released worldwide in over thirty countriesObserver Music Monthly, White Collar Rock. and preceded by an ITV documentary and PBS special in the United States. In December 2008, they scooped the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for "Fastest-selling UK debut for a classical act". The debut album turned 7 times Platinum in Ireland, and Platinum in UK, Sweden, Norway as well as going Gold in New Zealand, Canada and Spain. The group's concert schedule does not follow the usual band format as clauses in their bespoke contract places the emphasis on them continuing their pastoral work in their respective Parishes and in the Diocese of Down & Connor. In the 21 March issue of

The Tablet ''The Tablet'' is a Catholic international weekly review published in London. Brendan Walsh, previously literary editor and then acting editor, was appointed editor in July 2017. History ''The Tablet'' was launched in 1840 by a Quaker convert ...

, it is claimed that the album has sold more than 1 million copies in Ireland alone.

2009–2010: ''Harmony'' and ''Noel''

In August 2009, they began recording their second album, entitled "Harmony", under the same production team. It was released in November 2009 and has reaped platinum awards in Ireland and Sweden, where the album reached the No 1 spot in the Swedish charts just before Christmas 2009. The trio completed a very successful concert tour of UK & Ireland playing to packed houses and ending with a homecoming concert in Belfast's Waterfront Hall. Their concert itinerary also took in two concerts in the Millennium Forum in the City of Derry, the first concert coinciding with the release of the Saville Report on Bloody Sunday. They noted that it was an auspicious day for the city and for the future. The trio's first Christmas album, ''Noel'', was released 2 November 2010. The album debuted at number 3 on the US

Top Classical Albums The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...

Chart and #18 on the

Top Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

Chart. In Canada, the album charted at number 100 on the

Canadian Albums Chart The Canadian Albums Chart is the official album sales chart in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocea ...

and number 8 on the Canadian Classical Albums Chart. In November 2010 they released an autobiography ''Soul Song: Reflections on an Unexpected Journey'' (Hardback). A paperback edition was released in April 2012.

2011–2018: ''Then Sings My Soul'' and ''Alleluia''

In April 2012, The Priests released ''Then Sings My Soul – The Best of the Priests'' featuring one new song, "Danny Boy". The group then toured in Europe, Canada and the US. In early 2015 the Priests re-signed their recording contract with Sony Music. Their album ''Alleluia'' was recorded in 2016 and released on 7 November 2018.

Members

Martin O'Hagan and Margaret Keys (49697568976) (cropped)

*Fr Eugene O'Hagan is

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the

. *Fr Martin O'Hagan is Parish Priest of th
Parish of Newtownards and Comber
with two churches: The Church of St. Patrick (Newtownards) and the Church of Our Lady of the Visitation (Comber).

. *Fr David Delargy is Parish Priest of the Lough Shore Parishes of Whitehouse, Greencastle and St James in the

. All three were appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebration ...

for services to music and to charity in Northern Ireland.

Discography

Studio albums

Holiday albums

Cappella Caeciliana

The Priests were also founder members of Belfast-based choir Cappella Caeciliana, with whom they have recorded four albums: * 2001 – ''Cantate Domino – Music of Celebration from Cappella Caeciliana'' * 2005 – ''Sing for the Morning's Joy'' * 2008 – ''O Quam Gloriosum'' * 2014 – ''Reflecting Light'' The Priests also recorded with Cappella Caeciliana the seven-minute work "Ut omnes unum sint" by

James MacMillan Sir James Loy MacMillan, (born 16 July 1959) is a Scottish classical composer and conductor. Early life MacMillan was born at Kilwinning, in North Ayrshire, but lived in the East Ayrshire town of Cumnock until 1977. His father is James MacMi ...

, which appears on the choir's 2018 CD ''UNITY May they all be one'', conducted by the composer.

References

External links

*
Official blog
*
Cappella Caeciliana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Priests, The Musical groups from Northern Ireland Vocal trios British musical trios British classical music groups