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History
John O’Dea was born to Kieran and Mary O’Dea (née Doyle) of William Street in Kilkenny in 1851. He joined the Capuchin Order in England in 1868 and took Laurence as his religious name. He was ordained a priest by the Bishop of Southwark on 3 May 1874 at the Capuchin Friary in Pantasaph, Flintshire, in North Wales. He joined the Irish Capuchins shortly afterwards and from 1874 to 1881 was Novice Master in Le Mans, France, where the Irish friars studied. He travelled to India in 1881 and was later appointed a chaplain to the British forces stationed there. He assumed responsibility for the construction of the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Joseph in Shimla in 1885. O’Dea returned to Britain in 1891. Having re-joined the British Capuchin Province, he served as guardian (local superior) in several English Capuchin Houses including Olton (Oxford), Erith (London) and Crawley (Sussex). Although advancing in age (he was at this point nearly sixty), he volunteered for further missionary work in Arabia from 1907 to 1909. At the outbreak of the First World War, he again put forward his name for military chaplaincy. His offer was accepted, and he was made chaplain to a large convalescent camp established at Eastbourne on the English Coast for wounded and shell-shocked soldiers of the conflict. At its peak, the main camp had room for 3,500 injured soldiers. Overburdened by the pressures of his work, O’Dea died in the Military Hospital at Palace Green in London on 4 November 1917. He was buried in the cemetery of the Friary Church of St Francis in Crawley, Sussex.