So people initially saw us along those lines. “When we released the first album in 2008,” says Fr David, the most talkative of the three men, “Ireland was very familiar with the Father Ted scenario, the My Lovely Horse song, and all of that. At first, they were viewed with the same kind of bemusement you’d afford a novelty act. BRIT Awards nominations followed, as well as tours of Europe, the US and Australia. The 2008 release set a Guinness world record for Fastest-Selling Classical Debut Album, surpassing debuts from the likes of Katherine Jenkins and Luciano Pavarotti. Signed by Sony BMG in 2008, the trio has released three studio albums, The Priests (2008), Harmony (2009) and Noel (2010), and a Best Of collection, Then Sings my Soul (2012). These priests have tour managers, they do soundchecks, they sign autographs. Despite their commitment to their parishioners, however, their lives are noticeably different from other parish priests. They have been based in Northern Ireland from the 1990s, and each has since been working full-time in their respective parishes (Fr David in St Michael’s, West Belfast Fr Martin in Newtownards and Comber Fr Eugene in Ballyclare and Ballygowan – he is also chancellor of the Diocese of Down and Connor). After vocational training in Belfast, they studied at the Irish College in Rome – Fr David specialising in Sacramental Theology and Education, Fr Martin in Moral Theology, and Fr Eugene in Canon Law. The three middle-aged Northern Irish men have known each other from the 1970s, when they were students at St MacNissi’s College (now St Killian’s College), Carnlough, Co Antrim. You sense that passion would run amok on the sidelines of an intercounty GAA match, but nowhere else (unless, perhaps, when talking about same-sex marriage, more of which later). When talking about topics that don’t run parallel with their sideline music life, they never raise their voices above a specific level. Their movements are measured, their body language circumspect. The three men are the epitome of what you imagine priests of a certain age and generation look, sound and act: relentlessly sincere, extremely civil, wilfully asexual, exuding a calmness that is more comforting than unsettling. Without wishing to stereotype, Fr David Delargy (52), Fr Martin O’Hagan (52) and his brother Fr Eugene O’Hagan (56) match the identikit picture. Thu.Eight years, four albums, numerous tours and over three and a half million album sales later, the members of The Priests remain as calm as they surely were when they first entered the seminary in Belfast over 30 years ago. He gave numerous organ concerts in Europe to finance the hospital in Africa.Ĭopyright © The Norwegian Nobel Institute The respect of the Nobel Prize Laureate for all life made him issue his warning against nuclear tests and the dangers from radioactive fall-out.Īlbert Schweitzer was also a gifted musician and interpreter of Bach. In 1957, Schweitzer spoke on the radio to people all over the world. Together with his wife, who was a nurse, he built and ran a hospital at the mission station Lambarene in Gabon, a French colony at the time. He wanted to alleviate suffering, and accordingly studied medicine. He studied theology and became a priest, but that was not enough. ![]() ![]() Schweitzer was born in Alsace in the then German Empire. This attitude permeated everything he did. ![]() No person must ever harm or destroy life unless absolutely necessary. The expression "reverence for life" is the key to Albert Schweitzer's personal philosophy. Doctor, Missionary, Philosopher and Musician
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