Community to hold fundraiser in honour of Cork priest and bus driver killed in horror road crash

Fr Con Cronin, who was a native of Coomhola in Bantry, was a member of the St Patrick's Missionary Society for almost 49 years and had served as curate in Passage West since 2012.

A popular Cork priest and the driver of a bus which killed him in a horror accident in Cork will be remembered at a fundraising concert in the priest’s last parish this weekend.

Fr Con Cronin, 72, was leaving the Bosun restaurant in Monkstown on August 3, 2021, when a bus hit and fatally injured him. The bus driver, Ballincollig father of two Mark Wills, 51, had suffered a cardiac episode which also resulted in his death.

Fr Cronin, who was a native of Coomhola in Bantry, was a member of the St Patrick's Missionary Society for almost 49 years and had served as curate in Passage West since 2012.

On Saturday, August 10, a concert will take place in aid of St Vincent de Paul’s local branch, in Ringaskiddy community centre, in memory of the popular priest. The event will get underway at 7.30pm.

One of the organisers, Mary Foley, said that Mr Wills will also be remembered on the night with a prayer.

At an inquest, CCTV footage had shown Mr Wills unresponsive at the wheel whilst the bus went out of control. The jury concluded that Mr Wills died of natural causes whilst a verdict of accidental death was recorded in relation to Fr Cronin.

'Uplifting'

On Saturday night, poetry, music and song will be performed by a number of performers who will give their time voluntarily. The theme of the event is inclusion and 100% of the proceeds will go to St Vincent de Paul.

Among those performing will be the Passage West Youth Choir, Passage West Community Choir, opera singer Louise O’Sullivan and Harbour Keys band. Local playwright and poet Anita Howard will also take part, along with a group of Irish dancers.

Ms Foley said: “It will be uplifting as we don’t want to be sad. Fr Con loved the bit of craic!” 

Ms Foley said that the event is the second such concert in memory of Fr Cronin and is among a number of other fundraisers organised in his memory. Among them was the production of a CD by the local youth choir which raised around €3,000 which was donated to the St Patrick’s Missionary Society for education projects in Fr Cronin’s former diocese of Minna in Nigeria. 

A number of benches, each with a plaque inscribed with words of Fr Cronin, have also been placed in locations associated with the popular priest in his parish, and in Coomhola.

Ms Foley said: “He will never be forgotten — we would do anything to bring him back, but of course we can’t. 

He was a wonderful man. There was something special about him, he was a people person. It was an honour and privilege to know him.

She added: “We still cannot believe he is gone.” When Fr Cronin died, there was a huge outpouring of grief and tributes for him.

They included messages of sympathy from all over the world, including from the Papal Nuncio, Reverend Jude Thaddeus Okolo, and the bishop of the Minna diocese in Nigeria which Fr Cronin helped establish during his near 25 years in West Africa.

Tickets can be purchased online here.