Fr Paddy
Fr Paddy is the parish priest of Abbeyleix. From Carlow town, he was educated in Carlow CBS and studied Business and Politics in Trinity College Dublin before training to be a priest in Carlow College.
He writes for a number of media outlets. He has almost 31,000 followers on Twitter.
Fr Paddy: The plague of gossip
A woman, pushing on in years, boasted to her pastor that she did not have an enemy in the world. He was very impressed.
What...
Fr Paddy: Students are more than just points
I have a recurring dream, it centres itself around my leaving cert.
I find myself sitting my history exam and not having a clue of...
Fr Paddy: Lord increase our faith
You don’t just wake up one morning, light streaming in from the window, birds fluttering about, and jump from your bed with exuberance declaring...
Fr Paddy: Jack Charlton … ”Put ’em under pressure”
Jack Charlton’s recent death left many deeply saddened. An iconic personality, that won the hearts of the Irish people.
He made people believe in themselves....
Fr Paddy: Direct Provision – A failed system
This pandemic is far from over, whilst hopefully it remains contained, on our Island.
Here in Laois we face the second week of restrictions, which...
Fr Paddy: John Hume – An Instrument of Peace
John Hume put his devotion to what was right above what was best for himself, his life’s work was given its ultimate return in...
Fr Paddy – Mind your mind and don’t judge others
I was moved by Brendan O Connor’s interview with Brent Pope recently. Brent spoke of his reflective-time during the lockdown.
He thought of his mother...
Fr Paddy: 19 ways to stay positive
Our world screams out for poetry even if it can’t cope with it. Faith can only exist in a world of poetry.
God is always...
Fr Paddy: Ode to a mouse or a spider
Robbie Burns writes well on the little things. When he was ploughing, he disturbed the home of a mouse. He apologised in a poem....
Fr Paddy: Suicide – a pandemic that continues to devastate
During the past ten days, five lives have been lost to suicide in Laois. Wonderful lives, abruptly ended, leaving behind families overwhelmed with grief...
Fr Paddy: Time to end Direct Provision
Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) Ireland have launched a new study, Protection with Dignity: Roadmap to System Change, which identifies necessary steps for system change...
Fr Paddy: Returning to mass sensibly and safely
The global pandemic has had a shattering effect on humanity.
This deadly virus, has made no exceptions, its ugly presence has wounded Princes, Prime Ministers,...
Fr Paddy: 19 ways to Stay Positive
Our world screams out for poetry even if it can’t cope with it. Faith can only exist in a world of poetry.
God is always...
Fr Paddy: Spirit of God, loving and free
These days all of us are confronted with situations which seem confusing and contradictory and we wonder where we are going and what the...
Fr Paddy: Ascension a time to Hope
This Sunday we celebrate together the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, celebrating the moment when forty days after His Resurrection, our Lord...
Fr Paddy: Holding on to faith, hope and love in these tough times
Living through this pandemic, coping with isolation whilst managing our mental health is undoubtedly a challenge.
It is completely normal to be feeling overwhelmed and...
Fr Paddy: A time for healing
How can we use this time wisely?
Perhaps the best use of time right now is, as Jesus said, to love one another. In times...
Fr Paddy: No Social distancing from Christ
Who says that Christ is not Risen this year?
When in fact he is dressed in a blue gown in green and white in our...
Fr Paddy: An Easter that’s very different
On Ash Wednesday we were reminded of our frailty, when we received ash on our foreheads.
And we were advised by Jesus in the Gospel...
Fr Paddy: Lockdown
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so...
Fr Paddy: This will call for great resilience of mind and heart
My friends, while the name of the virus we are struggling to control is known as COVID 19 – the entire experience that we...
Fr Paddy: Spiritual Nuggets of Hope in difficult times
This is a particularly tough time in human history where the new coronavirus has many people worried, unsure as to how to act and...
Fr Paddy: Blessed Carlo Acutis … Patron of the Internet
I am greatly taken by the life story of Carlo Acutis, a young, talented and deeply spiritual teenager whose life story is a real...
Fr Paddy: Lent … A time to pause and maybe a time to lighten...
Last Wednesday we began Lent, the season of reflection that leads us towards the three days of the Triduum, with Easter Sunday falling on...
Fr Paddy: ‘If you do no good to others, you do nothing great’
Lent begins on Wednesday 26th February. Christians around the world mark the beginning of Lent with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. This ancient day...
Fr Paddy: Don’t judge others before you know them
A 24 year old boy looking out the train window shouted … ‘Dad, look the trees are going behind!’
Dad smiled and a young couple...
Fr Paddy: Healthcare is first and foremost a relationship of trust
This Tuesday, February 11, is the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and also World day of Prayer for the Sick.
Behind many hall-doors in...
Fr Paddy: If Fr Peter McVerry were Taoiseach …
Prime Time Extra on RTE television invited Peter McVerry SJ to tell the nation what he would do in his first 100 days if...
Fr Paddy: The World has changed and so must the Church
The following article was recently penned by Fr. Brendan Hoban. It’s a very honest reflection from a man who is almost 50 years ordained...
Fr Paddy: Eight-year-old’s explanation of God
A second class student in primary school recently wrote the following wisdom………
One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace...