Brian D'Arcy CP

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 1 June 1945) is an Irish

Passionist The Passionists, officially named the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ (), abbreviated CP, are a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men, founded by Paul of the Cross in 1720, with a special emphasis on a ...

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, writer, newspaper columnist, broadcaster, and preacher. D'Arcy hosts a weekly radio programme each Sunday afternoon on

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. Acc ...

. He is the author of several books, 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 Bellanaleck (Flanagan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 182. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a small village in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It lies just south of Enniskillen on the main A509 ( N3) road towards Cavan and Dub ...

in County Fermanagh. His father Hugh worked at Enniskillen railway station and had been a notable

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

footballer in his youth. His primary education was in a local school while his secondary education was in the

Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh The Christian Brothers Grammar School, Omagh is a state funded 11–18 boys grammar school in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It is the largest grammar school in Omagh. It is under the trusteeship of the Edmund Rice Schools Trust (NI) ...

. Having successfully sat the

11-plus The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardised examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...

exam, he entered

St Michael's College, Enniskillen St Michael's College (Irish: ''Coláiste Mhíchíl'') is a Roman Catholic boys' grammar school located in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland. Named for St Michael the Archangel, the school educates boys in County Fermanagh and the surrounding area ...

. He later studied

scholastic philosophy Scholasticism was a medieval European philosophical movement or methodology that was the predominant education in Europe from about 1100 to 1700. It is known for employing logically precise analyses and reconciling classical philosophy and C ...

at UCD.''A Different Journey'', p.38 In September 1962, at age 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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a priest in December 1969. He was sexually abused while a seminarian 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 people – 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 that ...

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 the title character on 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 Clerical marriage is the practice of allowing Christian clergy (those who have already been ordained) to marry. This practice is distinct from allowing married persons to become clergy. Clerical marriage is admitted among Protestants, including bo ...

. 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 Rich ...

(once Ireland's richest billionaire) and his family in their court battles with the Irish state. D'Arcy 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 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 List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

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 Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday brea ...

, 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

. Since July 1976 he has written the ''Father Brian's Little Bit of Religion'' column for the ''

Sunday World The ''Sunday World'' is an Irish newspaper published by Independent News & Media. It is the second largest selling "popular" newspaper in the Republic of Ireland, and is also sold in Northern Ireland where a modified edition with more stories r ...

''. 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 bor ...

on the long-standing

show '' Sunday Half Hour''. On 23 January 2012, the BBC announced that D'Arcy would step down from this role and that

Diane-Louise Jordan Diane Johnson (born 28 June 1960), better known by her stage name Diane-Louise Jordan, is a British television presenter. She was the first black presenter of the children's television programme '' Blue Peter'', being involved in the programme fr ...

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 television presenter, whose career spans over 60 years. Blackburn first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio Londo ...

Alan Dedicoat Alan Dedicoat is a British announcer from Hollywood, England, 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 (born 1963) is a Welsh broadcaster and a former traffic weekday mornings reporter for BBC Radio 2. Early life Bowles was born in Splott, Cardiff, Wales in 1963, and is the youngest of three siblings. Her father, Cliff, was a marine e ...

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 Ulster University (; Ulster Scots: or ), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It i ...

. He accepted an OBE in June 2019.

Response to the Murphy Report

After the publication of the

Murphy Report The Murphy Report is the brief name of the report of a Commission of investigation conducted by the Irish government into the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin. It was released in 2009 by Judge Yvonne Murphy, only a fe ...

, 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 Writers 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 Christian clergy from County Fermanagh Broadcasters from County Fermanagh People educated at St Michael's College, Enniskillen