Emer Gallagher
Monsignor Shannon
The Monsignor had been visiting his sister Bridie in Namibia when he died suddenly just two weeks after he celebrated his retirement. There was to be further sadness for the Shannon family when news emerged over the weekend of the death of the Monsignor’s eldest sister, Mary, in Australia.
Paying tribute to the late priest who served in Ballinrobe for 24 years, the Archbishop of Tuam, Dr Michael Neary, described him as a tireless worker with a special gift of music and song. “He used these gifts constantly in his priesthood and he enjoyed being a priest.
“He recognised that gifts are to be shared and that is what he had done throughout his priesthood.”
Monsignor Shannon grew up in Glenamaddy, Co Galway where his father worked as a garda. He developed a deep love for the Church at an early age and those close to him say he was destined for the life he chose. “He was a priest through and through. Nothing else in life gave him more pleasure than what he was doing,” said Fr Michael Gormally, who served with Msgr Shannon in Ballinrobe for 12 years.
“If he wanted to do something, he did it 100 per cent. He was a father figure in the town and the schoolchildren were his babies and he visited the schools regularly. He will be missed. He was a man with a big heart and a big laugh.”
On July 28, 1984 Fr Shannon was welcomed as Parish Priest of Ballinrobe by Monsignor Mitchell. It was marked as the first significant moment in a recent booklet compiled by the late Monsignor outlining his memories as parish priest of the town he served so well for almost quarter of a century. The fact that many of the milestones highlighted by the esteemed priest may seem insignificant to outsiders conveys the depth of love the priest held for the cultivation of community spirit within Ballinrobe. He had been active in all aspects of life and development in the parishes he served over his lifetime and the Harry Clarke windows in Ballinrobe became an important project for him upon arrival in the south Mayo town.
Tommy Shannon entered the seminary in Maynooth in 1950 and was ordained in 1957. His first ministry was in Castlebar where he served from 1957 to 1971. His next appointment was as secretary to the late Archbishop Joseph Cunnane of Tuam, a role he held for 13 years, while also working in a pastoral role with the students of his alma mater, St Jarlath’s.
Monsignor Shannon is survived by his sisters Aileen and Bridie, his brother Micheál, nieces, nephews, extended family, colleagues in the Archdiocese of Tuam and beyond and a wide circle of friends.
TRIBUTES TO MONSIGNOR SHANNON
Rose and Walter Sammon, parishioners and friends
“He was a kind, caring and generous man. In the 24 years he was here in Ballinrobe he never missed a Christmas at our house. He visited us every Christmas night and we looked forward to his visit. We will miss him this year. He was full of warmth and good humour and I never saw him in bad form.
“He was well-known as a spiritual director at St Jarlath’s College in Tuam. Our sons Brendan and Alan attended the school and they had nothing but good things to say about Fr Shannon. He was very caring and had great time for the youth.
“He was an inspiration to everyone in the town. Since he came to Ballinrobe he was extremely active in all areas of the community but his forte was his support of the youth. He was very good with young people and I think that stemmed from his days as spiritual director. He remained in contact with many of the pupils he taught in the college, many of whom were from Ballinrobe, and he married many of them.”
Monsignor Dermot Moloney, PP of Crossboyne
“I knew him all my life. I was a student when he was ordained and he was a fellow colleague when he was a chaplain in St Jarlath’s College in Tuam.
“His death came as a terrible shock. He was so alive it is hard to think of him as dead. He had great energy, enthusiasm and he was outgoing, generous and pleasant.
“He was very interested in music and listening to it and going to operas. He was a great singer. Part of his personality was bringing enthusiasm and enjoyment to everything and he saw singing as a part of that. He liked people and he enjoyed talking to people. He was generous with his time and would contribute to any worthy cause.”
‘All of his parishioners were his sons and daughters’
Emer Gallagher
ONE memory that will forever remain with Ernie Sweeney is the day that Monsignor Tommy Shannon came to the rescue of the Pope. Ernie recalls that during the papal visit to Knock in 1979, Pope John Paul II was having difficulty reading the ‘Our Father’ in Irish. Msgr Shannon duly obliged. “You could hear his voice booming through the basilica in Knock. He came to the rescue of everyone he met — an ordinary man like me and the Pope.”
“He was like the older brother I never had. His death came as such a shock but he is up in heaven now,” said Ernie Sweeney speaking about his lifelong friend.
“When I was a young boy in Castlebar he patted me on the head and said ‘Hello child’, when I was a teenager he put his arm around me and said ‘Come on son, we’ll sort out your problems’ and when I was a man he put his two arms around me and hugged me and treated me as an equal.”
Ernie recalls the Monsignor’s love for music and his huge interest in the Harry Clarke windows. “He was very much into the Harry Clarke windows and light opera and he would sing at the drop of a hat. His voice was his instrument and when he sang he could hit the back wall of the church and the sound would vibrate right back up through the church.
“He gave his all. If he was in pain he didn’t show it. He didn’t want the people he was helping to see him upset. He was a genuine giver and a pillar of the local church and he held up the church with love.”
At the Golden Jubilee Mass for Monsignor Shannon last year, Ernie Sweeney brought up a collection of 84 letters —one written each month for seven years — that Monsignor Shannon sent to the members of the Boys’ Sodality which he established in Castlebar during his time there. At the time, Ernie Sweeney was unable to read or write, but he kept the letters in a biscuit tin until he learned to read later in life.
“I mean every bit of what I say about him from my heart. You couldn’t weigh it or measure my love for him. There is no tape to measure it and no scales to weigh it. It is a genuine platonic love for a fellow human being.”
Ernie speaks with humour of the strong character of Msgr Shannon. “He was very flamboyant. It was his nature. You could feel his presence in a room.”
“All of his parishioners were his sons and daughters because he adopted every one of them.”
