New parish priest for Clonmany and Culdaff, as Bishop McKeown rings the changes

The parish of Clonmany and Culdaff is to get a new parish priest from next month, in clerical changes announced by the Bishop of Derry Dr Donal McKeown.

Rev John McDevitt, the current parish priest of Steelstown and administrator of Culmore, will assume his new role as parish priest of Clonmany and Culdaff from August 30.

Fr McDevitt (58), from Derry, is set to take over from Moville native Fr Kevin Doherty (pictured below), who had been on loan to Clonmany for the past two years, and now returns to his ministry in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

Another Inishowen priest on the move is Muff’s Fr Sean O’Donnell, who has been promoted to the role of parish priest at Melmount and Sion Mills, having been a curate at the Three Patrons parish in Derry.

A 52-year-old former bus driver, Fr O’Donnell was ordained by Bishop McKeown ten years ago, in June 2015, having joined the priesthood relatively late.

Fr O’Donnell is a son of Joe and Rosemary O’Donnell, from Grove Cottages in Muff.

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Elsewhere in the Derry Diocese, the Bishop has announced a number of additional moves. These include: Rev Declan McGeehan, CC Cappagh, to be PP Steelstown and Adm Culmore; Rev Malachy Gallagher, CC Melmount and CC Sion Mills, to be CC Cappagh; Rev Stephen Ward, CC Long Tower, to be CC Three Patrons; Rev Peter O’Kane, ceasing his diocesan role as training in evangelisation and adult faith formator and becoming lecturer, St Patrick’s College, Maynooth; Rev Michael Doherty, PP Melmount and PP Sion Mills, to retire; and Rev Charles Logue, CC Clonca, to retire.

Bishop McKeown has thanked all the priests “who so generously made themselves available for these appointments.”