On 29th October our brother, Joe MacMahon OFM, went home peacefully to God after a long illness. He was 80 years old.

A member of the Ennis fraternity, Joe was born in Limerick in 1942. He entered the Franciscan novitiate in Killarney in 1960, and the following year celebrated his First Profession. After studies in Galway and Leuven, Belgium he was ordained to the priesthood in 1970.

Having requested to be sent on foreign missions, Joe went to Chile the following year. He returned to Leuven in 1974 to pursue his doctorate in social studies, and thereafter lectured in Bolivia and Pretoria, South Africa.

He returned to Ireland in 1988 and was appointed to various houses in the Province over the next 22 years. In 2000 he returned to the missions and lectured at St Bonaventure College in Lusaka, Zambia. However, within a year he was elected by the friars in Zimbabwe to be their Custos. He came back to Ireland in 2005 and was appointed Secretary of the Province, based in Dublin. He went to Ennis in 2017.

Joe’s gifts and Franciscan spirit were highly esteemed by the friars, and he was called upon to serve in various roles in the Order throughout his life. His contemplative soul and his ready smile and kindness meant that his ministry among the people of several countries was fruitful over many years.

May the Lord comfort his family members and the friars who grieve his loss, and grant Joe the reward of his faithful Franciscan life.

Reposing in Daly’s Funeral Parlour, Francis Street, Ennis on Sunday 30th October from 2.00pm to 6.00pm, followed by removal to the Franciscan Church of The Immaculate Conception, Francis Street.

Requiem Mass on Monday 31st October at 11.00am, followed by burial afterward in Ennis Friary plot, Abbey Street.