Last week marked the end of an era in Parish life, when, after 18 years of dedicated service, Fr. Joe Spillane retired from his position as curate in Ballydehob. Never one to seek the limelight or make a fuss, Fr. Joe retired so quietly that the announcement of his departure at the parish masses on Sunday week came as a surprise to the congregation.
A native of Aghada, in East Cork, Fr. Joe received his secondary education in the nearby Midleton C.B.S. where as well as being a diligent student, he was by all accounts, not that he would ever boast about it, a talented hurler. This affinity with the sliotar and camán gave him an extensive knowledge of the game and its heroes of past and present. He joined St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, in Kiltegan, Co Wicklow and after graduation and ordination he went to minister in the society’s mission fields in Africa. Later he returned to Kiltegan Manor where he took over the management of the order’s farm and succeeded in restoring it into a successful enterprise.
When others might be contemplating retirement he was seconded to the Diocese of Cork and Ross and was posted as a curate to Kealkil where he is still fondly remembered. In 1995 he made the short trip to Ballydehob and while he always said this was going to be his final posting, it’s unlikely that he ever envisioned that it would last almost two decades. During his time here, Fr. Joe worked with five different Parish Priests, Fr. Jerome Hurley, R.I.P., Fr. Michael Nolan, R.I.P., Fr. Bernard O’Donovan, Fr. John O’Donovan and at present, Fr. Alan O’Leary, all of whom much younger than he. Years passed and P.Ps. came and went but because of his total commitment to his calling as a priest, retirement didn’t seem an option as the current scarcity of priests in the diocese meant that should he retire a replacement might not be available.
In 2012 he celebrated his diamond jubilee, 60th, as a priest, again without fanfare and it was noticeable that he alone, of his surviving classmates, was still in active ministry. Now, at last, he, too, has decided to take a well-earned rest and join his priest friends in retirement at his society’s mother house in St Patricks Kiltegan. All his former parishioners wish him well and many more years of health and well-being. He will be forever remembered for his unremitting devotion to duty and his ever-present availability to serve the needs of his parishioners.
It is planned that Fr. Joe’s retirement will be celebrated in an appropriate manner at a later date. Fad saol sláintiúil dó agus go maire sé an céad.
Noel Coakley.