McCann, Gerald, 1910-1958, Capuchin priest

Joseph McCann was born in Belfast on 2 February 1910. After a period of schooling in his native city he entered the Seraphic College in Rochestown in County Cork to prepare for his entry into the Capuchin Order. He was preceded by his elder brother, Robert McCann, who had joined the Capuchins in 1925. His brother took Cuthbert as his religious name and was later a missionary in Africa before returning to Ireland in 1946. Having completed a course in humanities, Joseph McCann entered the Capuchin novitiate in Kilkenny in 1929. He took Gerald as his religious name upon joining the Order. For the following three years he was a member of the community at St. Bonaventure’s Hostel and studied philosophy in University College Cork. In 1933 he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. He subsequently studied theology in Ard Mhuire Friary in County Donegal and was ordained a priest by the Most Reverend William McNeely, Bishop of Raphoe, in Letterkenny on 27 June 1937. Soon after his ordination he was transferred to Dublin and was appointed assistant editor in the Irish Capuchin publications office. Here he found scope for his considerable literary and artistic talents. His greatly admired and often amusing illustrations of Franciscan life were a noteworthy feature of ‘The Capuchin Annual’. He also contributed many literary and scholarly articles to both the ‘Annual’ and its sister publication ‘The Father Mathew Record’. Afflicted by ill-health from an early age, he was subsequently forced to relinquish his work in Dublin and was transferred to Rochestown Friary in County Cork. In August 1958 he travelled to Dublin to preach a novena, but he took ill and was admitted to the Bon Secours Hospital in Glasnevin. He died in the hospital on 16 August 1958 and was buried in Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin.

Baptismal name: Joseph McCann
Religious name: Fr. Gerald McCann OFM Cap.
Date of birth: 2 February 1910
Place of birth: North Queen Street, Belfast, County Antrim (Diocese of Down and Connor)
Name of father: John McCann (Cabinet Maker)
Name of mother: Mary Jane McCann (née Riddel)
Date of parents’ marriage: 10 July 1899
Date of reception into the Capuchin Order: 3 Oct. 1929
Date of first profession: 4 Oct. 1930
Date of final profession: 4 Oct. 1933
Date of ordination (as priest): 27 June 1937
Educational attainments: BA (1933)
Date of death: 16 Aug. 1958
Place of death: Bon Secours Hospital, Dublin
Place of burial: Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin