Herlihy, Agathangelus, 1911-1968, Capuchin priest

John Brendan Herlihy was born in the village of Knocknagree in County Cork on 11 March 1911. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in October 1928 and took Agathangelus as his religious name. He studied in Rome and was later ordained to the priesthood in Letterkenny, County Donegal, in June 1935. In the following year he volunteered for missionary work in Africa. He initially worked in the missionary territory in the Prefecture of Victoria Falls in Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia). In the 1940s he was appointed guardian (local superior) and parish priest of St. Mary of the Angels Friary in Athlone just outside Cape Town in South Africa. On 9 September 1958 he arrived in New Zealand and was appointed the first guardian of the community at 186 Glenmore Street in Northland, a suburb of Wellington. He was also the first Capuchin priest in St. Vincent de Paul Parish (now Otari Parish) in Northland-Kelburn in Wellington. He was diagnosed with cancer and died in Wellington on 5 June 1968. He was buried in Karori Cemetery, Wellington

Baptismal name: John Brendan Herlihy
Religious name: Fr. Agathangelus Herlihy OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 11 Mar. 1911
Place of birth: Knocknagree, Couny Cork (Diocese of Kerry)
Name of father: John Herlihy
Name of mother: Catherine Herlihy (née Sullivan)
Date of reception in the Capuchin Order: 5 Oct. 1928
Date of first profession: 6 Oct. 1929
Date of final profession: 6 Oct. 1932
Date of ordination (as priest): 23 June 1935 (St. Eunan’s Cathedral, Letterkenny)
Educational attainments: 1st class hons., BA, 1931
Missionary activity: Travelled to the Prefecture of Victoria Falls, Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia), on 31 Oct. 1936; Travelled to Wellington, New Zealand, on 21 June 1958
Leadership positions: Appointed first discreet of the Victoria Falls Mission, Northern Rhodesia, on 28 March 1946; Appointed second discreet of the Livingstone Mission, Northern Rhodesia, on 24 Nov. 1950 (re-appointed on 6 June 1954).
Date of death: 5 June 1968
Place of death: Calvary Hospital, Wellington, New Zealand
Place of burial: Karori Cemetery, Wellington, New Zealand