Just one priest to be ordained in diocese of Cork and Ross this year 

Rev Ronan Sheehan, 27, from Newcestown, will be ordained to the priesthood in his native parish later this month

Ronan Sheehan holds his niece, Gia, following his ordination as a deacon by Bishop Fintan Gavin last September.

The only ordination in the diocese of Cork and Ross this year is set to take place next week.

Rev Ronan Sheehan, 27, from Newcestown, will be ordained to the priesthood in his native parish on Sunday September 18, in the church of St John the Baptist where he was baptised, received his first communion and where as a teenager, he served as a minister of the word.

“It’s the place where my vocation was born, where my formation began, so it will be very special occasion,” Rev Sheehan said.

It will be the first ordination ceremony in Newcestown, it will be the first time since 1995 that a man from the parish has been ordained, and Rev Sheehan will be the first man from the parish to be ordained for the diocese of Cork and Ross since 1967.

That priest, Canon Richard Hurley, will be among the guests at Rev Sheehan’s ordination.

Rev Sheehan, who was ordained a deacon last September, joins the priesthood against the backdrop of a near collapse in vocations which has prompted parishes to merge and share resources, including reducing the number of priests.

In Cork and Ross alone, at least eight priests are set to retire from active ministry this year, with three more returning to their religious orders.

Earlier this year, Bishop Fintan Gavin set out his vision for the new diocesan structures, with 16 ‘families of parishes’ to be created, each of which will be ministered to by a team of priests, with a plan for increasing involvement by lay leadership over time.

The first 12 of those ‘families of parishes’ will come into effect this weekend.