Limerick priest's niece has surprise confession for her uncle after flying in specially from Sydney

A PRIEST’S niece had a good confession for her uncle at the end of his golden jubilee anniversary celebration Mass.

Aine Bresnihan surprised Fr Eugene Boyce after she flew all the way from Sydney to be there for the special occasion in St John’s Cathedral. Her brother Barry also returned to Limerick for the joint ceremony but he came from the comparatively close, Amsterdam.

READ MORE: Pope Leo XIV appoints Bishop of Limerick to new key role

Aine, a 30-year-old physiotherapist from Castletown, Ballyagran, said Fr Eugene had no idea she was coming home, and she wanted to keep it that way. 

“We asked mam (Brid) to keep it a secret and for us to surprise him on the day. The first time Eugene saw me was after his ceremony, when everybody was going up to congratulate him at the altar. 

“I walked up and shook his hand and he was totally shocked to see me and gave me a big smile and said ‘what are you doing here?’. I replied, ‘What do you mean, I came home for you, I wouldn’t have missed this day for the world’,” smiled Aine. 

The joint celebration of Fr Eugene Boyce and Canon John Daly, who were ordained together,  took place on a Saturday night last month. Aine set off from her home in Australia, where she has lived since 2022, at 3am the previous day. Her flight took off at 6am for Dubai and after a total of 24 hours in the air, she landed in Dublin at 8.10pm on Friday night.

“Barry flew into Dublin at 7.10pm from Amsterdam. We both met mam in Dublin Airport. We arrived at home around 11pm after a two and a half hour drive home. My dad (Paddy) was not aware of our homecoming and he was shocked and delighted to see us,” said Aine.

Door to door from Sydney to Ballyagran it was 29 hours of travelling - and she would do it all again.

“The moment my mam informed myself and Barry of Eugene’s golden jubilee of his ordination we were both delighted he reached this magnificent milestone and just wanted to be there and celebrate it with him and all the family. 

“We would never again get this opportunity to attend such a wonderful occasion with our uncle. It was an easy decision to make really but we both had to figure out the logistics of work, visa and flights etc. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world as I know it would have always been something I would have regretted,” said Aine, who described her uncle as “playing a pivotal role in our lives”.

“He was there for all our family celebrations - baptisms, holy communions, confirmations, graduations, birthdays, every Christmas and so many other occasions. He has always been very supportive to us and we are so proud and have great respect for him,” said Aine.

On the following Saturday, Aine left Ireland at 2pm, landed back in Sydney at 11.30pm on Sunday and straight back to work on Monday!