Tributes have been paid to Augustinian priest and biblical scholar Fr Kieran O’Mahony OSA, who died peacefully at Our Lady’s Hospice, Harold’s Cross, on August 18.
Fr O’Mahony was widely known for his work in Scripture and for helping Catholics engage more deeply with the Bible through teaching, preaching and writing.
Only weeks before his death, he celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood at St Michael’s Church in Blackrock, Cork, joined by family and fellow Augustinians.
Fr O’Mahony lectured in Scripture for many years and later served as coordinator of biblical studies for the Archdiocese of Dublin. He was also the author of the Hearers of the Word series, which sought to make biblical scholarship accessible to clergy and lay readers alike.
Readers of The Irish Catholic will also know Fr O’Mahony through his regular Lectio Divina reflections, in which he offered prayerful commentary on the Sunday readings.
St Michael’s Parish in Blackrock, where Fr O’Mahony was a frequent visitor, paid tribute to his “scriptural insights and learning”, saying he had helped parishioners understand “the beauty and power of the Word of God as something vibrant and alive”.
The Belfast Jesuit Centre also remembered Fr O’Mahony as a Scripture scholar, writer and teacher who had supported the centre through retreats and Scripture courses.
Fr O’Mahony is survived by his sister Liz, brothers Aidan, Brendan, John and Frank, his wider family, his Augustinian confreres and many friends and colleagues.
His Funeral Mass will take place at 11am on Friday, August 21, in the Church of St Augustine and St John, John’s Lane, Dublin, followed by cremation at Mount Jerome Crematorium.