THE death has occurred of the president of St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Monsignor Matthew O'Donnell. Monsignor O'Donnell, who was 64, had been seriously ill following a heart attack earlier this year.
Monsignor O'Donnell was born in Mungret, Co Limerick, in 1932. He studied at St Mary's College, Galway, and was ordained for the Galway diocese in 1957. He took a doctorate in philosophy at Louvain, and was appointed professor of ethics at Maynooth in 1958, at the age of 26.
He taught at Maynooth for 34 years, with one break in 1972 when he was invited back to teach at Louvain. He was appointed vice president of Maynooth in 1980 and succeeded Monsignor Micheal Ledwith as president in June 1994.
