‘Inspirational’ Drumraney priest put forward for beatification

An “inspirational” Drumraney priest, who was shot during the Korean war, is among a group of five Irish-born Columban fathers, and two others of Irish descent whose case has been sent to Rome to be considered for beatification, the first step to sainthood.

Fr Patrick Reilly, who died on August 29, 1950, near his parish of Mukho, not far south of the border, is part of a wider group of 81 martyrs promoted by the Korean church as "witnesses of modern and contemporary faith", details of which were sent to Rome just last month.

Cork native Fr Donal O'Keeffe, a Columban father based in Seoul, who helped translate into English documents relating to their cause, declares Fr Reilly and the group “inspirational figures” and their case is, in his opinion, “ironclad” but it will likely take four to five years before there is a decision.

Born in 1915, Fr Reilly was educated in Drumraney NS, and in a report celebrating the school's 100th anniversary in the Westmeath Independent in 1987, Bishop Michael Smith describes him as the “most distinguished son of the parish”, while a 1951 account in this paper says he was "killed by the Reds".

He later went to St Finian's in Mullingar before going to Dalgan Park, Navan, from where he was ordained in 1940.

The new priest served in Clifton in England before going to Korea in 1947, and two years later was sent to be the first pastor of a new church to be built in Mukho.

It was a country that had endured a lot of suffering and oppression by the time Fr Paddy as he was known arrived. It had been annexed by Japan in the early 1900s as a colony, Fr O'Keeffe explains from Cork, where he is on holidays, and the Japanese then tried to abolish the Korean language and culture.

Post-war following the Japanese surrender, he laments that Korea was arbitrarily divided by the Allies, the Russians taking responsibility for the North, and America, the South, and each went in different directions politically in the years that followed.

In the North there was suppression of voices and some priests were killed so when North Koreans came south, clerics knew were in danger, he continues. The war began when the communist North Koreans invaded South Korea, allied to the West, on June 25, 1950.

“He (Fr Reilly) had gone to hide in the house of a catechist on June 28 or 29, when the North Korean army occupied Mukho,” the Columban website details, where he hid for 26 days before being arrested. “The exact details of his death are unknown. His body was found on a mountain path by an old man gathering wood. He had been shot through the chest.”

“They think he had been detained for a day or two and marched off. They were going to take him somewhere but they just shot him,” recalls Fr Donal, who has been working on the case since 2017.

“He was buried where he died but after the war, their bodies were reinterred and buried behind the Cathedral in Chuncheon city, the archdiocese where he was working. Behind that, there are three Columbans altogether and four Korean priests who were killed,” adds Fr O'Keeffe, who believes the current case is strong and there is a lot of documentation to back it up.

“Very early on in the 1950s because families were very obviously concerned and wanted reports from them, the Columbans gathered all the materials so we have eye witness accounts that each of them was told of the dangers involved and if you want to leave, leave now otherwise your life will be in danger and all seven of them said they would stay with the people because that's what they were sent over for.

“They had the opportunity to save their own lives but they chose to stay with the people, that's the key thing,” he stresses, saying letters Fr Reilly sent spoke about building a new church. Following his death, a church was built in Mukho and dedicated in his memory.

When visiting a relative of Fr Reilly's in Drumraney some years ago, Fr O'Keeffe saw the marble altar rails erected in his memory in the local church and couldn't help but be impressed.

“For a small parish, it was a huge undertaking (in the 1950s) because in today's money it would be an astronomical amount,” he says, adding that many years ago a crucifix of Fr Paddy's was returned to his family.

For him to be beatified or called Blessed, the first step to sainthood, would be a huge thing for them, he believes.

“Having met the family and met the family of the other Irish guys... they actually do regard them as saints in many ways. For example, in Paddy Reilly's case and Fr Tom Cusack's case in Clare, when there is someone sick in the family they would pray to them and they have stuff belonging to them that they would see as a relic,” he observes, adding that it would be a boost to the Korean church where parishioners still go on pilgrimage to Fr Reilly's grave and an mass is held to remember him every August.

“The choices they made were very courageous, they made them based on faith,” he stresses. “It's clear to me they were inspirational figures... and their lives have certainly inspired the Columbans in Korea,” he said. The Columbans are now working in areas like helping the Korean church be more missionary, on movements to promote peace, climate change and with migrant workers and those with special needs.