EXCLUSIVE
Michael Commins
A former Mayo All-Ireland medal winner has become the first person in the history of the GAA to be honoured with a teaching post at the famous Harvard University in the USA.
Tooreen native, Sean Freyne, who was captain of the Mayo minors that won national honours in 1953, has been appointed as Visiting Professor and senior academic at the Harvard School of Divinity. He will take up the one-year appointment in mid-September.
One of Mayo’s most loyal supporters, he attends almost every Mayo championship and league game year after year. Though resident in Dublin for many years, he was in Castlebar on Saturday evening to cheer on the red and green in their championship qualifier against Cavan.
Together with his good friend, Willie O’Connor from Barnacarroll, Claremorris, he also attended the Connacht Final in Hyde Park on Sunday on their way back to Dublin and was present to see Sligo win only their third title ever in the history of the Connacht senior championship. He plans to be in Celtic Park, Derry for Mayo’s game against the Oak Leaf county next Saturday evening.
“I love the football and the GAA is a huge part of my life. It’s a major social thing in Irish society and I have made many great friends through the GAA over the years. Heading off to games around the country is a real delight and something I enjoy enormously,” he said.
Sean, who served as Professor of Theology (until 1997) and Head of School of Hebrew, Biblical and Theological Studies at Trinity College from 1980 to 2002, is one of the world’s leading specialists on Galilean studies. He has addressed seminars and delivered lectures on matters relating to the Holy Land in many parts of the world and has published several books in relation to the history of the region.
Back in 1979-80, he served as lecturer with the Department of Studies in Religion at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. For the three years before that, Sean was Professor at Loyola University, New Orleans. He is currently President of theInternational Society for the Study of the New Testament.
Known for his passion for the land of Galilee, which he has visited on numerous occasions, Sean has published a wealth of material which has generated much interest among scholars and historians of the Biblical territories.
He said: “Arising from my work on the social and religious world of Galilee in Hellenistic and Roman times, I have been drawn into the current ‘third wave’ of historical Jesus studies. One of my recent publications, ‘Jesus a Jewish Galilean’, gathers together many of my ideas on both Jesus and Galilee developed over the years.”
Sean’s new assignment is a huge honour for the man from Tooreen. “I am very much looking forward to the challenge at Harvard. It will involve delivering lectures to students and that is something I have always enjoyed doing, especially in the area in which I specialise. It is a real privilege to be afforded such an opportunity and I certainly intend to enjoy my time there,” said Sean at the weekend.
