MONSIGNOR RICHARD MULCAHY, who has died aged 78, was a former Army officer who, after his ordination as a priest in 1959 became head of Opus Dei in Ireland.
In his homily at the funeral Mass, Fr Dan Cummings said: “He was a man who was as straight as a die. He only made friends, and that he did abundantly. His good humour and friendly disposition were part of his character. He never complained during the years of his last illness.”
Fr Ronald Neville, retired parish priest of Harolds Cross, Dublin, and a former Army chaplain, described Msgr Mulcahy as “a gentleman, a good priest and a man of prayer”.
Born in 1930 in Kildare, he was the son of Lieut-Gen Patrick A Mulcahy, former chief of staff of the Defence Forces, and the former Josephine Barrett of Barnageeha, Darragh, near Ennis. Gen Richard Mulcahy, former leader of Fine Gael and minister for education, was an uncle.
He grew up in Beggars Bush barracks, Dublin and, after attending CBS Synge Street and Belvedere College, he entered the Military College at the Curragh in 1950, shortly after joining Opus Dei. He was commissioned as an officer in 1951 and posted to Renmore Barracks, Galway.
He retired from the Army in 1953 to become director of Nullamore, a residence for third-level students in Dartry, Dublin. It had just been set up by members of Opus Dei, helped by many others, including the Earl of Wicklow who became a life-long friend.
Dick Mulcahy organised its official opening in 1954 which was attended by the taoiseach, John A Costello, Éamon de Valera, Prof Michael Tierney, President of UCD, Alfie Byrne, Lord Mayor of Dublin, and Archbishop John Charles McQuaid. He was ordained a priest of Opus Dei in 1959, having completed his theological studies in Rome, where he lived alongside St Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei. He obtained a doctorate in canon law at Rome’s Angelicum University.
In an article in The Irish Times in 2002, he recounted an anecdote from that time in Rome: “I had the privilege in my student days in the 1950s of living with Blessed (now St) Josemaría in Rome and was able to sense the ever-searching quality of his love for Christ, finding him in unexpected ways.
He began his pastoral work in Britain, and was later assigned to Dublin and Galway. He was appointed Counsellor of Opus Dei in Ireland in 1961, a position he held until 1975.
He was chaplain to the Organisation of National Ex-Servicemen from 1976 to 1979, and chaplain to Mellowes Agricultural College in Co Galway from 1977 to 1979. Later he was chaplain at the Racing Academy and Centre of Education, a residential centre in Naas, Co Kildare, for young people starting in the horse racing industry. He was appointed a judge of the National Marriage Appeals Tribunal in 1986, and was its presiding judge from 2003 until his retirement in 2005. He was appointed a monsignor by the Holy See in 2005.
A daily swimmer at the Forty Foot in Sandycove for 40 years, he impressed all he met with his affability and his infectious smile. He died after a long illness. Predeceased by brothers Frank and Padraig, and sister Maura, he is survived by his sister Olive.
Monsignor Richard Mulcahy: born November 20th, 1930; died April 23rd, 2009