By Paula Day

Father Richard Brennan, who was ordained in Ireland May 6 by Archbishop Eugene A. Marino, SSJ has taken up his responsibilities as parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Kennesaw.

“Being a priest in this country is a great and enjoyable challenge,” said Father Brennan, who was ordained in Dublin at the Church of the Holy Spirit.

“Here, as a priest, you collaborate with a team in the parish and work toward consensus and are part of an obviously vibrant Church, whereas at home, the priest’s job tends to be one of maintenance. There’s not the well-established system of lay involvement and lay participation.”

The 28-year-old Dublin native is the son of Richard and Maire Brennan. Other family members are an older brother, Bernard, and sister, Yvonne, and younger siblings Eamonn, Paula, Catherine and Sinead. Yvonne, 29, is a coloratura soprano and professional opera singer, Father Brennan mentions with pride. He is also an accomplished musician.

Educated by the Irish Christian Brothers he entered the congregation after two years of college, as a novice. He later decided to study for the priesthood.

“I felt more comfortable with the secular priesthood,” he recalls. “The ordained ministry was attractive to me. I felt then, and still do, that it gives me more freedom to be with people than being a Christian Brother did, although I enjoyed teaching very much.”

He returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and English literature at Holy Cross University in Clonliffe.

Seminary study was postponed, however, when in 1984 he felt he was too young to make such an important life decision. He had met a young woman to whom he was attracted. He spent the year working with the Catholic youth council in Dublin. When he decided to return to seminary study, ironically he was told he “didn’t have what it takes” to be a priest. Then he met Father Edward Dillon, who acts ass liaison between the archdiocese of Atlanta and the Irish seminarians.

“You’ve got the right stuff,” was the encouragement Father Brennan recalls receiving from Father Dillon, and he began plans to study for the Atlanta archdiocese.

Since it was too late that year to return to seminary, he went to Galway City, which he describes as “lively, a young place, very much like Atlanta.”

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” Father Brennan recalls. “My role was to develop youth services and act as coordinator of youth ministry.”

He helped develop 15 different centers, including a center for those addicted to drugs, one for unmarried mothers, an alternative educational system for school dropouts, a vocational training center and a young people’s retreat center.

Father Brennan completed his seminary studies at St. Patrick’s College, Carlow, the alma mater of several other priests in the archdiocese, including Father Dillon and Father Terry Kane, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Atlanta.

It was at IHM that as a seminarian and deacon Richard Brennan spent the two summers before his ordination to the priesthood.

“I loved that parish,” he recalls. “I was given the opportunity and encouragement to become involved in things which I enjoy: the youth program, the parish school, visitations to parishioners in their homes and in the hospitals. I felt very much a part of the place.”

Now, at St. Catherine of Siena he has conferred with Father Leo Herbert, pastor, and the parish team about his interests in RCIA, the youth program, and the folk and adult choirs. He plans to be involved with the men’s club, the women’s club, in hospital visitations and in the usual liturgical ministries.

I’m still finding my way around in the parish,” he commented. “They are very, very lively and tremendous people there.”

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Father Brendan Doyles’s ordination May 7, in his home parish of Holy cross in Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland, was the first ordination to the priesthood in the parish’s history, Father Doyle believes.

The 24-yer-old parochial vicar at Holy Spirit parish in Atlanta belongs to the ninth generation of priests in his family. A cousin and uncle are parish priests living in Ireland. Young Brendan Doyle heard about the Atlanta archdiocese during his first two years in the seminary.

“It was intriguing,” he said. “The archdiocese being so young – made an archdiocese only 30 years ago.” Father Doyle recalls feeling called to be a missionary to the young, growing Church and believing he would fit in.

His parents, Tony and Bridie Doyle, live in Tramore. He is the second oldest in a family of seven children. The oldest, Angela, is 27. Younger siblings are Kevin, Deirdre, Lorraine, Tony and James, who is 10.

During his teens, Doyle worked as an electrician and then as a bartender in a hotel.

“I didn’t see the hotel line as a long-time career,” he recalls.

After deciding to study for the priesthood, he entered St. John’s college in County Waterford. A seminarian, he spent three months in the summer of 1987 working in All Saints parish in Dunwoody. He returned as a deacon the following year and ministered for six months. He recalls being very nervous the first time he preached at a Sunday liturgy.

“In building up your confidence,” he said, “you have to meet overall the whole parish. They really comforted me in many ways. I found I gained a lot of strength and support through that experience.”

Of his months as a deacon he said, “You learn the theoretical side of ministry and then you get involved and fulfill a greater obligation. It’s a gifted way of life. One has to give 100 percent of self at all time, no matter what the circumstances. In many ways your time is for those you live and work with.” The pastoral staff at All Saints was a “tremendous support” to the young Irish deacon, he said.

In his new assignment, Father Doyle hopes to be involved in the RCIA process as he was at All Saints. Another ministry which interests him is the singles’ group. “I want to be there for them on their journey,” he said.

Father Doyle continues to find Atlanta itself and the growth of the Church here, exciting. “In other dioceses parishes are closing,” he observed, “but here the Church is growing.”

Coming to the United States was “a leap in the dark,” he said. When interviewed last fall before he returned to Ireland to complete preparations for his ordination, then Reverend Mr. Doyle commented, “The hardest part is to leave your own native land- your parents, relatives and friends – those who’ve grown up with you and supported you through the years. Leaving home was an emotional experience.”

Now, as Father Doyle, he continues to respond to the calling to be a missionary, finding Atlanta his “home away from home.”