From contracting malaria to dealing with Del Monte, Limerick priest's 50 years full of adventure

FR BRENDAN Duggan packed more into his 50 years as a priest than many a pope.

The Holy Ghost Father celebrated his golden jubilee on Saturday night in his native Cappamore five decades on from his ordination. He left east Limerick for his first mission in Ethiopia in 1977 but only lasted 11 months after contracting malaria.

READ MORE: Clerical reshuffle announced for parishes across Diocese of Limerick

“We went on an exploratory trip down to the very south of Ethiopia, on the border with Kenya. There had been a lot of rain - Lake Stephanie, normally only a swamp, had expanded to about 20 or 30 miles of water. 

“We couldn't get back as we would have had to cross the Kenyan border and that wasn't a good move because you could get shot at that time.

“I was stuck on an island for days until we were rescued. I picked up malaria. I was pretty sick so they took me to a hospital in Addis Ababa. I was put on total bed rest for three months. There was a war going on and I could hear the shots at night,” recalled Fr Duggan.

He then resumed his mission but got sick again so had to return to Rockwell College where he taught for the next 15 years and was the dean.

The now 78-year-old said he became a celebrity in the Regional Hospital after getting sick again in Ireland.

“They took samples of my blood and could see the parasites on the slides. I became a celebrity in the hospital because I think it was the first time they ever saw the malaria parasite.”

His treatment meant he couldn’t go back to Africa for 10 years. Fr Duggan went to Rostock in the former East Germany in 1992 and learned German from scratch.

“My next door neighbour in Germany was Angela Merkel. Her father was a Lutheran pastor there. I learned a lot in Germany. It was an interesting experience.”

After three years there he went to Kenya where he linked up with the Del Monte Foods to provide water to a village.

“They were producing about 350,000 tonnes of pineapples for the whole of the European market. They gave me permission to take water from one of their fields, down the hill and into the village. I got education scholarships going for teenagers.”

Fr Duggan’s next stop was New York where he did fundraising, was chaplain to the undocumented Irish and worked in parishes in Woodside and Bellerose in Queens close to another world leader in waiting.

“I was three miles away from Donald Trump's house. You could be in a slum on one side of a highway in New York and the other side is a rich area.” 

He poignantly recalls saying Masses for Irish men and women who couldn't go home for funerals.

Fr Duggan left America in 2014, started in Monaleen parish in 2015 before the bishop asked him to go to Athea. Fr Duggan retired as parish priest there in 2022 and returned to Rockwell as bursar of St Joseph’s  retirement community.

Fr Duggan made friends and made a difference in people’s lives wherever he went.

His popularity was reflected at the large crowd at his anniversary Mass in Cappamore on Saturday night despite the Limerick hurling loss to Dublin.

 “We were all a bit in shock!”

In last week’s Leader, Canon Liam McNamara, who was celebrating the 60th anniversary of his ordination, said he had “no regrets” and Fr Duggan says the exact same as he reflects on his half a century as a priest.

 “I enjoyed being able to help.”