The Order of Preachers
The Latin translation is Ordo Praedicatorum, hence the abbreviation OP used by members, more commonly known after the 15th century as the Dominican Order or Dominicans. It is a Roman Catholic religious order founded by the Spanish priest Saint Dominic de Guzman in France, and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216.
We are part of the wider Dominican Order. Click Order of Preachers, Irish Dominican Province, and English Dominican Province for more detailed information.
The Newry Priory is led by Fr. Patrick Desmond O.P. (Prior) and the community are
Fr. Donal Mehigan O.P. (Sub-prior)
Fr. Noel McKeown O.P.
Fr. Stephen Tumilty O.P.
Fr. Adrian Farrelly O.P.
Fr. Ruaidhrí Grieve O.P.
Fr. Patrick Desmond OP (Prior)
Fr. Donal Mehigan O.P. (Sub-prior)
Father Donal is a native of Cork.
Fr. Noel Mc Keown O.P.
A native of Derry entered the Dominican Order in Cork and after studies there and at St Mary’s Priory, Tallaght was ordained to the Priesthood in Holy Cross Chapel, Clonliffe College Dublin. His final year of studies was at the Angelicum University in Rome. He has since served in various priories of the Order, both overseas and in Ireland and is currently assigned to St. Catherine’s Priory, Newry.
Fr. Stephen Patrick Tumilty O.P.
A native of Newry, Stephen was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He taught In Newbridge and ministered in Dundalk, Sligo and Waterford. He has a great affinity with the people of Newry and his gentle ministry is widely appreciated.
Fr. Adrian Farrelly O.P.
Father Adrian is a native of Ardee Co. Louth. Since his ordination in 1982, he has been assigned to Dundalk, Tallaght in Dublin, Trinidad in the West Indies, St. Saviour’s Dublin, St. Mary’s Cork and was assigned to Newry in 2016. Since his ordination, he has been involved in retreat work around the country. He was Director of the Dominican Retreat Centre in Tallaght and was prior in St. Mary’s Cork and St. Saviours Dublin. He qualified as a ‘Focusing’ teacher at the Focusing Institute in New York in 2001.
Fr. Ruaidhrí Grieve O.P. (Bursar)
A native of Co. Derry. He joined the Dominicans in 2016 and was ordained to the priesthood in October 2023.
Membership in the Order
Includes friars, nuns, active sisters and lay or secular Dominicans (formerly known as tertiaries) affiliated with the Order. The Dominican Order came into being in the Middle Ages at a time when religion began to be contemplated in a new way. Men of God were no longer expected to stay behind the walls of a cloister. Instead, they travelled among the people, taking as their examples the apostles of the primitive Church. Out of this ideal emerged two orders of mendicant friars: one, the Friars Minor, was led by Francis of Assisi; the other, the Friars Preachers, by Dominic of Guzman. Like his contemporary, Francis, Dominic saw the need for a new type of organization, and the quick growth of the Dominicans and Franciscans during their first century of existence confirms that the orders of mendicant friars met a need.