John O'Brien (30 May 1931 – 6 January 2008) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest who worked in the

Archdiocese of Dublin The Archbishop of Dublin () is an archiepiscopal title which takes its name from 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 Ire ...

from 1956 until his death in 2008. He is best remembered as one of Ireland's leading conductors, a prominent organist and founder of the retired St. James' Choir and the Glasnevin Musical Society.

Life and career

Early life

John O'Brien, eldest of the four children of publican Michael O'Brien and Mary O'Dea, was born in

Kilrush Kilrush () is a coastal town in County Clare, Ireland. It is also the name of a civil parish and an ecclesiastical parish in Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. It is located near the mouth of the River Shannon in the south-west of the county. ...

, County Clare, on 30 May 1931. He had a keen interest in music, which was nurtured at home. His mother played the violin, while the family housekeeper sang to the children every evening. At the age of seven, John was sent to Mrs. Atherton, a local piano teacher whose husband was organist of the parish church. A bright pupil, he was considered sufficiently accomplished to play a solo at the next

St. Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick (), is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day was made an official Chri ...

concert in Kilrush.

Priesthood

John O'Brien attended the Christian Brothers' school in Kilrush until entering the junior

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

for the

Diocese of Killaloe The Diocese of Killaloe ( ) may refer either to a Roman Catholic or a Church of Ireland (Anglican) diocese, in Ireland. Roman Catholic diocese The Diocese of Killaloe is the second largest Roman Catholic diocese in Ireland. It comprises the ...

Ennis Ennis ( , meaning 'island' or 'river meadow') is the county town of County Clare, in the mid-west of Ireland. The town lies on the River Fergus, north of where the river widens and enters the Shannon Estuary. Ennis is the largest town in Cou ...

when he was sixteen. He successfully completed his

Leaving Certificate A secondary school leaving qualification is a document signifying that the holder has fulfilled any secondary education requirements of their locality, often including the passage of a final qualification examination. For each leaving certificate ...

and, not being the chosen for the seminary of Killaloe, O'Brien was directed instead to the

, where he began his studies in

Clonliffe Clonliffe () is an area on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, between Ballybough and Drumcondra, Dublin, Drumcondra in the Dublin 3 postal district. Location Clonliffe Road, previously known as Fortick ...

College in September 1949. He was ordained a priest by Archbishop

John Charles McQuaid John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. (28 July 1895 – 7 April 1973), was the Catholic Primate of Ireland and Archbishop of Dublin between December 1940 and January 1972. He was known for the unusual amount of influence he had over successive gover ...

on 25 May 1956. O'Brien's first appointment was as chaplain to St. Michael's Hospital, Dun Laoghaire and afterwards, in 1957, he was made curate of

Glasnevin Glasnevin (, also known as ''Glas Naedhe'', meaning "stream of O'Naeidhe" after a local stream and an ancient chieftain) is a neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland, situated on the River Tolka. While primarily residential, Glasnevin is also home to ...

Parish. He combined this with the first official diocesan chaplaincy to the Bon Secours Hospital. 1962 brought a move to the rural setting of

Ballitore Ballitore () is a village in County Kildare, Ireland, sometimes spelt as Ballytore. It is noted for its historical Quaker associations. It was the first planned Quaker village in either England or Ireland - and remains the only one in Europe. ...

in the parish of Narraghmore in

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

. This would be O'Brien's base until 1966 when he was relocated in one of

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 ...

's oldest parishes – St. James's, dominated by the

Guinness Brewery St. James's Gate Brewery is a brewery founded in 1759 in Dublin, Ireland, by Arthur Guinness. The company is now a part of Diageo, a company formed from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. The main product of the brewery is ...

. In 1975, he was transferred to St. Andrew's, Westland Row – one of the archbishop's own parishes. He remained there until 1983, when he was promoted to

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

of St. Canice's,

Finglas Finglas (; ) is a northwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies close to Junction 5 of the M50 motorway (Ireland), M50 motorway, and the N2 road (Ireland), N2 road. Nearby suburbs include Glasnevin and Ballymun; Du ...

. He retired in 1996, enjoying the title of Pastor Emeritus while still residing in Finglas.

Musical career

The Glasnevin Musical Society

In the summer of 1955, O'Brien was asked to conduct

Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg (July 29, 1887 – November 9, 1951) was a Hungarian-born American composer. He is best known for his Musical theatre, musicals and operettas, particularly ''The Student Prince'' (1924), ''The Desert Song'' (1926) and ''The New Moo ...

's ''

The New Moon ''The New Moon'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Oscar Hammerstein II, Frank Mandel, and Laurence Schwab. The show was the third in a string of Broadway hits for Romberg (after ''The St ...

'' in

. The scheduled conductor was taken ill, and John took the baton with some trepidation as the cast included the renowned English tenor

Thomas Round Thomas Round (18 October 1915 – 2 October 2016) was an English opera singer and actor, best known for his performances in the leading tenor roles of the Savoy Operas and grand opera. Round began working as a joiner and then a police officer. ...

. In

Clonliffe College Holy Cross College (also known as Clonliffe College), located on Clonliffe Road, Drumcondra, was founded in 1854 as the Catholic diocesan seminary for Dublin by Paul Cullen, Archbishop of Dublin (later created, in 1866, a cardinal). History ...

, O'Brien had briefly come under the guidance of Fathers Sean Quigley and Brendan Lawless. He had sufficient self-confidence to form a choir from the nursing staff in St. Michael's Hospital, and, once in situ in Glasnevin to augment the Church choir there. With the blessing of his parish priest, Michael Geraghty, the Glasnevin Musical Society was founded in 1958. ''

The Desert Song ''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Berber fighters, against French colonia ...

'', under the musical direction of O'Brien, opened at the newly built St. Francis Xavier Hall in

. The success of ''The Desert Song'' led to Romberg's ' ''

The Student Prince ''The Student Prince'' is an operetta in a prologue and four acts with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. It is based on Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's play ''Old Heidelberg (play), Old Heidelberg''. The piece has a scor ...

'', with Brychan Powell and Estelle Valery of London's

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

Opera Company in the leading roles, in 1959. The Glasnevin Musical Society broke new ground in February 1960 when O'Brien was approached by the directors of Dublin's Olympia Theatre Stanley Illsey and Leo McCabe. The result was a production of

Julius Benedict Sir Julius Benedict (27 November 1804 – 5 June 1885) was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career. Life and music Benedict was born in Stuttgart, the son of a Jewish banker, and in 1820 learnt compos ...

's opera, ''The Lily of Killarney''. The cast included Veronica Dunne,

Bernadette Greevy Bernadette Greevy (3 July 1940 – 26 September 2008) was an Irish mezzo-soprano. She was founder and artistic director of the Anna Livia Dublin International Opera Festival.''The Irish Times'', "Festival seeks to promote opera among young peopl ...

, John Carolan and Denis Noble. Romberg's ''

'', with

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

soprano Julia Shelley and English baritone Joseph Ward in the principal roles, followed in October 1960 at the St. Francis Xavier Hall. It ran for ten performances.

St. James' Choir

While stationed at St. James's Parish, and with the blessing of the parish priest, Henry Cunningham, O'Brien expanded the choir and had the organ refurbished. Masses by

Palestrina Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; , ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Prenestina. It is built upon ...

and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

were sung in their liturgical settings, and these were extended to public performances with the choristers now firmly established as the St. James's Choir. Their first major event was an

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

TV showing of

Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's '' St. Cecilia Mass'' on her name day, 22 November 1971. O'Brien conducted with soloists Bene McAteer, Brendan Cavanagh and Gerald Duffy.

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's Heiligmesse and

Missa in Tempore Belli ''Missa in tempore belli'' (') is a setting of the mass by Joseph Haydn. It is catalogued Mass No. 10The Haydn masses are sorted using chronological indices given by New Grove. The Hoboken catalogue had also placed the masses in a presumed chrono ...

followed, but a December 1972 performance in St. James's Church of

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8September 18411May 1904) was a Czech composer. He frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia, following the Romantic-era nationalist example of his predec ...

Requiem Mass A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is u ...

was a turning point in the choir's career. It led to

inviting the group to undertake

's ''The Creation'' with the

RTÉ Concert Orchestra The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is a professional radio orchestra in Ireland and is part of RTÉ, the national broadcaster. Since its formation as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra in 1948, the RTÉ Concert Orchestra has grown from a small studio-bas ...

under

Colman Pearce Colman Pearce (born 22 September 1938) is an Irish pianist and conductor. Born in Dublin, Pearce was educated at University College Dublin and studied conducting in Hilversum and Vienna. He became a conductor for the RTÉ Concert Orchestra in ...

. The soloists were Eithne Troy,

Frank Patterson Frank Patterson KCHS (5 October 1938 – 10 June 2000) was an internationally renowned Irish tenor following in the tradition of singers such as Count John McCormack and Josef Locke. He was known as "Ireland's Golden Tenor". Early life Patter ...

and William Young. St. James's Choir made three visits (1973, 1975, 1978), with an Irish orchestra, to North America. These included concerts of mainly Irish and sacred music in New York, Detroit,

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Muskegon Muskegon ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Muskegon County, Michigan, United States. Situated around a harbor of Lake Michigan, Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, and boating. It is the most populous city along Lake Michigan' ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. Another transatlantic trip in 1989 found the choir in San Francisco, while

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for its Château fort, a ...

featured in their itineraries of 1968, 1970, 1972, 1993, 1995 and 1997 when the choir gave a special concert at the Shrine. In 1984, O'Brien embarked on an annual series of "Christmas Music" events in Dublin's

National Concert Hall The National Concert Hall (NCH) (An Ceoláras Náisiúnta) is a national cultural institution, sometimes described as "the home of music in Ireland". It comprises the actual concert hall operation, which in various chambers hosts over 1,000 ...

. Initially for one performance, due to popular demand this was extended to a second from 1988. The formation of the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir in 1984 meant a reduction in St. James's work for

, but allowed O'Brien to direct his own concerts in the National Concert Hall. These included Dvořák's

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...

(1986),

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma, to a family of moderate means, recei ...

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

(1987),

's Messe Solennelle (1989),

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...

's ''Messiah'' (1990) and

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

Te Deum The ( or , ; from its incipit, ) is a Latin Christian hymn traditionally ascribed to a date before AD 500, but perhaps with antecedents that place it much earlier. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin ...

(1991), this with

Stuart Burrows James Stuart Burrows (7 February 1933 – 29 June 2025) was a Welsh operatic tenor. Adept at oratorios and operas, he earned international recognition and the nickname "King of Mozart" for his focus on List of operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, ...

as soloist.

Health problems and death

O'Brien suffered ill health throughout his life. He had two bouts of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

before he was five years old, and while training for the priesthood at

College, he spent three of his seven Christmases in hospital. He suffered regular heart attacks and two strokes since 1990, which forced him to abandon the preparation and performances of major musical works. His health problems also forced him to early retirement from active ministry in 1996. On 6 January 2008, after taking part at a mass in St. Canice's Church,

(where he was formerly

), John O'Brien returned home and died peacefully, aged 76.
/ref>

Citations

References

*Biography in ''Pioneer Magazine'' Volume LIII No. 8, September 2001
Obituary
in the ''Irish Independent'' newspaper, Monday, 4 February 2008 issue *Obituary in ''The Irish Catholic'' newspaper, Thursday, 7 February 2008 issue

External links

Website of The Glasnevin Musical SocietyNational Concert Hall, Dublin website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, John 1931 births 2008 deaths 20th-century Irish organists Irish male organists Irish music arrangers 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests People from Kilrush Alumni of Clonliffe College 20th-century Irish conductors (music) 20th-century Irish male musicians