Fr Arnold Rosney appointed to the St Brendan's Cluster of Parishes in Birr

Bishop Fintan Monahan recently announced his diocesan changes for the coming Pastoral year and included was the appointment of Fr. Arnold Rosney to the Brendan Pastoral area. 

For Rosney will reside at the Presbytery, John's Place, Birr and work in the four parishes of the Brendan Cluster.

A native of Birr, Fr Rosney was ordained 27 years ago.

He told a newspaper a couple of years ago that entering the priesthood is a major and possibly daunting commitment, but when he started his studies in Maynooth in the early '90s, he realised that he had made the right choice. “I’m not sure it (becoming a priest) was something I always wanted to do," he explained, "but I always thought it was something worthwhile doing. I saw it as a good way to spend my life."

After being ordained to the Deaconate, Bishop Willie Walsh asked him to go to Rome to continue his education, and after coming back to the Diocese in 1999 he spent a couple of years in Ennis, before arriving in Shannon. “In September 2001 the Bishop asked would I come to Shannon to replace Father Mickey Mac as teacher chaplain in St Patrick’s Comprehensive," Fr Arnold told the media. "I came to Shannon then." After many years he left Shannon in January 2024 and returned to Birr, the town he grew up in.

“One of the things I remember Bishop Willie saying the day of our ordination," he commented, "was that you have the privilege of being with parents at happy times, baptisms, first communions, confirmations, wedding days, sharing in anniversaries, but also the privilege of being with parents and families at sad times, funerals, loss, challenges, I’ve had that experience.”

Bishop Monahan's announcement in June that Fr Arnold had been appointed to the St Brendan's cluster of parishes has been warmly welcomed by many.

Fr Arnold replaces Fr Antony Sajeesh. Fr Antony was a popular priest during his five years in Birr, whose affable, hard-working nature endeared him to many. He flew back to his home province of Kerala, India in December.