Brian D'Arcy CP

OBE 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 ...

(born 1 June 1945) is an Irish Passionist

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

based in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from ga, Inis Ceithleann , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 13,823 ...

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of 1,691 km2 (653 sq mi) and has a population of 61,805 a ...

, Northern Ireland. A writer, newspaper columnist, broadcaster and preacher. He is the author of several books of trite musings including ''A Little Bit of Religion'' and ''A Little Bit of Healing''.

Early life and education

D'Arcy grew up in the village of Bellanaleck in County Fermanagh. His father Hugh worked at Enniskillen railway station and had been a notable

Gaelic Athletic Association The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA; ga, Cumann Lúthchleas Gael ; CLG) is an Irish international amateur sporting and cultural organisation, focused primarily on promoting indigenous Gaelic games and pastimes, which include the traditional ...

footballer in his youth. His primary education was in a local school while his secondary education was in the Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh. Having successfully sat the 11-plus exam, he entered St. Michael's College, Enniskillen. He later studied scholastic philosophy at UCD.''A Different Journey'', p.38 In September 1962, at the age of 17, D'Arcy became a

novice A novice is a person who has entered a religious order and is under probation, before taking vows. A ''novice'' can also refer to a person (or animal e.g. racehorse) who is entering a profession with no prior experience. Religion Buddhism ...

at the Passionist monastery in Enniskillen. A year later he was transferred to Mount Argus in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform var ...

a priest in December 1969. He was sexually abused while a student priest by a fellow Passionist.

Pastoral ministry

In his early years as a priest, D'Arcy took it on himself to become acquainted with the showbusiness community in Dublin, visiting dancehalls seven nights a week and apparently hearing

confession A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information th ...

s from musicians and fans alike, a role he later described as being like 'an unofficial chaplain'. Such was his fame during this period that he reportedly became the inspiration for

Dermot Morgan Dermot John Morgan (31 March 1952 – 28 February 1998) was an Irish comedian and actor, best known for his role as Father Ted Crilly in the Channel 4 sitcom ''Father Ted''. Early life Morgan was born in Dublin, the son of Hilda "Holly" (née ...

's character, Father Trendy. D'Arcy has publicly opposed the existing disciplinary norms regarding

clerical celibacy Clerical celibacy is the requirement in certain religions that some or all members of the clergy be unmarried. Clerical celibacy also requires abstention from deliberately indulging in sexual thoughts and behavior outside of marriage, because thes ...

and has sought the possibility to ordain married priests. D'Arcy was warned in April 2012 that he must now submit his writings and broadcasts to an official censor. D'Arcy has been a prominent supporter of

Seán Quinn John Ignatius Quinn, commonly known as Seán Quinn (born 5 December 1947), is an Irish businessman and conglomerateur. In 2008 he was the richest person in the Republic of Ireland, but in 2012 he was declared bankrupt. The ''Sunday Times Ri ...

(once Ireland's richest billionaire) and his family in their court battles with the Irish state. D'Arcy, entirely consistent with his populist tendencies spoke at a rally in July 2012 in protest against the High Court finding Sean Quinn Jnr and his cousin Peter Darragh Quinn in contempt of court for not complying with its order to produce the €451 million they had moved out of the state while owing it to the state. While Seán Jnr served his prison time, Peter Quinn (who was found in contempt on the basis of evidence including a video-tape of him in the Ukraine detailing the crime) became a fugitive: in 2013 the High Court found Peter Quinn (in absentia) personally liable to repay €145 million of the money he illegally put out of reach of his creditors. D'Arcy was a long-term friend of

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

presenter

Terry Wogan Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 week ...

, officiating at the weddings of his children. D'Arcy said that Wogan was atheist but spiritual, and that God would admit him to Heaven.

Media career

D'Arcy hosts a weekly radio programme each Sunday afternoon on BBC Radio Ulster. Since July 1976 he has written the ''Father Brian's Little Bit of Religion'' column for the '' Sunday World''. On 15 April 2007, D'Arcy replaced Canon

Roger Royle Roger Michael Royle (born 30 January 1939) is a British Anglican priest and broadcaster. He is known for having presented the ''Sunday Half Hour'' programme on BBC Radio 2 for 17 years from 1990 to 2007. Early life and education Royle was born ...

on the long-standing

show ''

Sunday Half Hour ''The Sunday Hour'' was a long-standing show broadcast on the BBC Light Programme and then BBC Radio 2 in the United Kingdom, broadcast for 78 years between 14 July 1940 and 28 January 2018. For most of its life it occupied a Sunday evening ...

''. On 23 January 2012, the BBC announced that D'Arcy would step down from this role and that Diane-Louise Jordan would succeed him. He left the show on 29 January 2012. On 30 December 2021, he joined

Tony Blackburn Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC ...

Alan Dedicote Alan Dedicoat (born 1 December 1954) is an English announcer for programmes on BBC One. He is known as the "Voice of the Balls" on the National Lottery programmes, providing a voiceover for the draws since 1995. He was a BBC Radio 2 newsread ...

and

Lynn Bowles Lynn Bowles is a British broadcaster and a former traffic weekday mornings reporter for BBC Radio 2. Early life Bowles was born in Splott, Cardiff, Wales, and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father, Cliff, was a marine engineer; her mother ...

as one of the contributors talking about radio presenter

on the Channel 5 retrospective programme ''Wogan: Now You're Talking''.

Awards

D'Arcy received an honorary degree from the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

. He accepted an OBE in June 2019

Response to the Murphy Report

After the publication of the Murphy Report, D'Arcy accused the Vatican of hiding behind legal procedures in not dealing with allegations of child abuse within the church. Following the report's publication, he has called for a radical re-formation of the church's structures and resignations of high-ranking figures within the Irish Catholic Church.Brian D'Arcy: Senior Church figures should step down
, Ireland On-Line News Headlines, 27 November 2009, retrieved 4 December 2009

References

External links

''Sunday with Brian D'Arcy''
(BBC Radio Ulster) {{DEFAULTSORT:D'Arcy, Brian 1945 births BBC Radio 2 presenters Irish columnists 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Living people British radio DJs Radio personalities from Northern Ireland Passionists People from County Fermanagh Christian radicals Roman Catholic dissidents Roman Catholic priests from Northern Ireland People educated at Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh Officers of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century Irish Roman Catholic priests