Father Colm McGrady

FATHER Colm McGrady, who passed away last week following a recent illness, was the hugely popular Downpatrick-born parish priest of Strangford and Kilclief.

More than 1,000 mourners crammed into St. Patrick’s Church, Downpatrick, for Friday’s Requiem Mass, such was the respect with which he was held.

Fr. McGrady, who was 59, had many fine qualities. He was kind, considerate, compassionate, helpful, courageous and full of optimism.

A member of a well known Downpatrick family — he was a nephew for former South Down MP Eddie McGrady — he studied for the priesthood at Maynooth College and was ordained in Downpatrick in 1983.

He served in a number of parishes, including Holy Rosary, St. Brigid’s and St. Michael’s in Belfast. He also served as a curate in Newtownards and also served at St. MacNissi’s College in Garron Tower. Co. Antrim.

He was appointed parish priest of Strangford and Kilclief in October 2008. He immersed himself in all aspects of local life and quickly earned the respect of parishioners and members of the community from other denominations.

Many tributes have been paid to Fr. McGrady. South Down MP Margaret Ritchie said she was “deeply saddened” at his untimely death.

I knew Fr. Colm for many years,” she said. “He was a contemporary of mine growing up in Downpatrick and we were at Queen’s at the same time.

“Fr. Colm was a person of immense ability, intellect and compassion. A quiet spoken individual, Fr. Colm was deeply loved by all his parishioners in Strangford and Kilclief.

“He possessed so much empathy and understanding for them, their spiritual and temporal needs. He was a true shepherd of all his flock.”

Mr. Kenny Conlan, principal of St. Joseph’s Primary School in Strangford, where Fr. McGrady was a member of the board of governors, described him an “absolute gentleman” and said the school had been left “totally devastated” by his death.

“The children here absolutely doted on him,” Mr. Conlan said. “He was a great man for analysing things that came into the governors. He had a wealth of knowledge about the governance of schools. Nothing was a bother to him.”

Fr. McGrady was laid to rest in St. Malachy’s Cemetery, Kilclief.