The Archbishops, priests, religious and the faithful of the Archdiocese of Ibadan, Nigeria, along with his family and confreres in the Society of African Missions, are mourning the death of Fr Fintan Daly SMA. Fr Fintan died peacefully in the St Theresa’s Nursing Unit, SMA House, Blackrock Road, Cork at 9.15 on Ash Wednesday, 22 February 2023, with his sister Frances, other family members and SMA confreres at his bedside.
Fr Fintan was ordained in 1964 and spent 56 years as a missionary in Ibadan, Nigeria. After a short period as Curate in Holy Cross Catholic Church, Ikire, Fr Fintan was appointed to the teaching staff of St Theresa’s Minor Seminary at Oke-Are, Ibadan. He was to spend the next 25 years there, eleven of them as Rector. As a result, Fr Fintan is possibly one of the most well-known SMA priests in western Nigeria.
He then transferred to fulltime parish ministry in Our Lady of Fatima parish, Eleta.
In 2002, he was elected the Deputy Regional Superior of the SMA in western Nigeria. He moved to the SMA Regional House at Orita-Challenge. Attached to the house was St Leo’s Catholic Church and Fr Fintan served as its Parish Priest from 2002 until his return to Ireland in 2021 for medical care.
May God comfort his family, parishioners and SMA confreres who mourn his death.
In a newspaper some years ago, Fr Fintan made the following reply when asked about his future: “The future is not ours to see… But we leave the future in the hands of God. Jesus told us not to worry about tomorrow…” Rest in peace Fr Fintan.
A more complete Obituary will be available in due course.
Funeral arrangements
Fr Fintan will repose in the African Missions, Blackrock Road, Cork from 5pm to 7pm on Monday, 27 February.
His remains will be taken at 11am on Tuesday, 28 February to St Joseph’s SMA Church, Wilton, for Funeral Mass at 12 noon, followed by burial in the community cemetery.
The Mass can be viewed on the Parish webcam
Full details on RIP.IE