Barrister who once scaled Mount Everest

BISHOP RAY Field had been head chaplain to the Defence Forces from 1991 until his resignation from that post, when he was ordained an Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin in September 1997.

He was a member of the successful Irish expedition to Mount Everest in 1993 with Dawson Stelfox.

Born on May 24th, 1944, he is a native of Drumcondra. He was ordained a priest on May 17th, 1970. He is a barrister and has been called to the Irish and English Bars.

On ordination as bishop he replaced Bishop Dermot O’Mahony as an Auxiliary Bishop of Dublin. He was ordained Titular Bishop of Ard Mór and Auxiliary Bishop for North Dublin/North Kildare parishes. He is a member of the department of social issues and international affairs at the Irish Bishops’ Conference.

The Murphy Commission found allegations against Fr Horatio (a pseudonym), and with which Bishop Field had been involved, were dealt with appropriately by the archdiocese. Where “Fr Sergius” was concerned, Bishop Field told the commission he believed he was dealing with a priest who had an alcohol problem and was not aware of abuse complaints against him.

The commission found information given by Bishop Field to priests in the parish to which “Fr Benito” was assigned in December 2003 “was certainly not complete or sufficiently specific”. It was concerned “about the failure to inform Bishop Field about the advisory panel’s perception that he had delayed in reporting a complaint of child sex abuse”.