Kelleher, Cyril, 1919-2002, Capuchin priest

Michael Kelleher was born in Ballyvourney in County Cork on 3 June 1919. He was educated in Rochestown Seraphic College (County Cork), University College Cork and at the theological house in Ard Mhuire Capuchin Friary in County Donegal. He joined the Capuchin Franciscan Order in 1937 (taking Cyril as his religious name) and was ordained to the priesthood in 1946. From 1947, he was involved in various ministries with the Capuchins in what is now the Province of Our Lady of Angels in the Western United States, as director of clerics at Old Mission Santa Inés in Solvang (California) and later as Associate Pastor and Pastor. He was the director of clerics at St. Patrick’s Novitiate in Wilmington, Delaware, and served as both teacher and principal at St. Francis High School in La Cañada-Flintridge, California. He also served as guardian (local superior) of San Lorenzo Seminary in Santa Inés. For a time, he was also guardian and director of clerics at San Buenaventura Friary in San Francisco. He was also Vice Provincial of what is now the Province of Our Lady of Angels and was mission director while residing at Old Mission Santa Inés in Solvang. He died on 17 January 2002 in St. Francis Hospital in Santa Barbara and was buried in the cemetery adjoining San Lorenzo Seminary in California.

Baptismal name: Michael Kelleher
Religious name: Fr. Cyril Kelleher OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 3 June 1919
Place of birth: Ballyvourney, County Cork (Diocese of Cloyne)
Name of father: John Kelleher
Name of mother: Abby (Abigail) Kelleher (née Forde)
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1937
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1938
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1941
Date of ordination (as priest): 20 June 1946
Educational attainments: BA 1st class hons. (1941); MA, 1st class hons. (1942)
Missionary activities: Travelled to the Western United States Mission on 29 July 1947
Leadership positions: Principal, St. Francis High School, La Cañada, California, 1956-71; Assistant Custos, 1959-61, 1962-5; Vice-Provincial Minister, 1973-6.
Date of death: 17 Jan. 2002
Place of death: St. Francis Hospital, Santa Barbara, California
Place of burial: Cemetery, San Lorenzo Seminary, Santa Inés, California