FR C COLLIER, Dunsany

(Wednesday) in Dunsany of Fr Conal Collier, a native of Arlonstown and a member of the Carmelite Order. Fr Collier died on Saturday night, at the Marlay Grange Nursing Home, Rathfarnham, after being ill for some time. He had been based in Zimbabwe for 49 years, returning in August of last year due to ill-health. Deceased marked the golden jubilee of his ordination last year. His is a unique family in that eight members joined religious orders - three of his brothers also became priests, three of his sisters are nuns and a brother was a member of the De La Salle order. At the time of the fortieth anniversary of his ordination a decade ago, Fr Collier spoke of his work in the parish of Rusape in Zimbabwe"s eastern diocese of Mutare. The parish consisted of a small town and a large rural area with 27 stations. It was quite heavily populated, and he shared the pastoral work with another priest. There was a secondary school, two primary schools and a hospital, and since the end of the Liberation War, eight churches had been built in the parish. Fr Collier admitted to being overwhelmed by the generosity and faith of the people there, recalling an occasion when a local couple presented him with a site for a church, which they had bought. The couple hired themselves out to landowners and worked at all sorts of tasks to raise the amount for the site, a figure of over 1,200 pounds. In 2005, Fr Collier moved to the novitiate at Kriste Mambo in the eastern highlands of Zimbabwe, and in 2006, to Harare, before returning to Mutare in October 2006. In August 2007, he returned home to Ireland along with his sister, Sr Rosario, who had spent 17 years working in Zimbabwe. Deceased took ill earlier this year a week after returning from a visit to his brother, Fr Mel, in San Diego in the United States. Fr Collier was a frequent visitor home, and always celebrated Mass in the local Church of the Assumption when visiting, often taking part in the Christmas festivities with the local clergy. He was also part of other celebrations in the locality, such as a special open air Mass in Dunsany Abbey, and a Mass on the GAA pitch in Dunsany to mark the centenary of the GAA in 1984. His love of the Dunsany area sees him returning there for burial. Deceased was educated at St Joseph"s NS, Kilmessan, St Patrick"s Classical School, Navan, and the Jesuit Institute of Theology in Milltown. He is survived by his brothers, Niall, Dunsany, and Fr Mel, California; sisters, Sr Rosario, Presentation Sisters, Kilcock, Sr Carmel, Loreto Sisters, Navan, Sr Sinead, Our Lady of Charity Sisters, England; sisters-in-law, Joan, Dunsany, and Gertie, Navan, nephews, nieces, relatives and friends, as well as Carmelite Confreres. The removal took place from the Carmelite Priory, Whitefriar Street, Dublin, to the Church of the Assumption, Dunsany, yesterday (Tuesday) evening. The funeral takes place there today at 12 noon, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.