Priest recovering after brutal presbytery attack

A KERRY priest was yesterday said to be recovering slowly, following a brutal assault outside his rural presbytery on Sunday night.

Fr Michael O’Leary, parish priest of Ballymacelligott, sustained serious head and hand injuries after being set upon by a man after he stepped from his car on returning from the annual parish bazaar.

The 67-year-old cleric is understood to have had more than 60 stitches inserted in head and hand wounds and his condition remains comfortable in Kerry General Hospital, Tralee.