Holy Trinity RC Church, Newark.
Our Parish Management Team

Pleased to meet you, Father Michael!

Michael O’Donoghue was born in 1946, the youngest of three children, into a devout and close-knit family outside Killarney in the south west of Ireland.

Throughout his life he has retained his deep love for Irish culture and music in spite of having dedicated almost 40 years of his life to service as a priest in the diocese of Nottingham.

His old friend and fellow Kerryman (and our own much loved parish priest for many years) Father Tim O’Sullivan tells us that Michael’s early years were “happy and carefree… in a home which exuded happiness and spirituality”.

Such immeasurable advantages combined with a full appreciation of Nature and the fellowship provided by farm work and sport were a wonderful preparation for a life dedicated to community. Young Michael knew he wished to be a priest.

Six years at All Hallows Seminary in Dublin ended in September 1970 with ordination, an unexpected golfing holiday and a one-way ticket to East Midlands airport. At the airport the young curate was met by the parish priest of St Joseph and St Edith’s Church in the sedate market town of Oakham which at that time served the entire Catholic community of Rutland. Father Michael Lynch, now long retired, quickly took to his new assistant priest and they have remained great friends ever since.

After four years in Rutland Father Michael was transferred to St Alban’s parish in Chaddesden near Derby and then in 1980 he was asked to go to “The Briars” where his eleven year Directorship oversaw massive extensions to the facilities and its development into a leading centre of spirituality within our diocese. Education and close working with schools has always been a key aspect of Father Michael’s work wherever he has served.

September 1991 saw a transfer to St Thomas More’s at Knighton in Leicester where together with his parishioners he celebrated his Silver Jubilee in 1995. The new millennium took Father Michael to the newly-built church of St Peter and St Paul’s in Lincoln where his reputation as an outstanding parish priest echoed down the Fosse Way. We shall know the truth of the old saying “Their loss is our gain”. PT