Book tells story of pioneering priests

A CORK-BORN priest has detailed the pioneering role of two Cork men who were among the first members of what is now one of the world’s largest international missionary orders.

Dr Henry Twohig has chronicled the work during the late 1800s of John Mary Neenan and Michael Tierney. They were among the first members of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) order, founded in France in 1854 by parish priest Jules Chevalier.

John Mary Neenan, a young priest from the Cloyne diocese, was the first candidate accepted by Chevalier. Neenan later went on to found the MSC order in Ireland, on the Western Road in Cork.