Former Archbishop of Dublin Desmond Connell dies aged 90

By Paul Hosford
Journal
February 21, 2017

http://www.thejournal.ie/desmond-connell-dies-aged-90-3250239-Feb2017/

FORMER ARCHBISHOP OF Dublin Desmond Connell has died after a long illness.

He was 90.

Connell was Archbishop of Dublin from to 1988 until 2004 and Cardinal since 2001.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said that Cardinal Connell, who had been ill for some time, passed away peacefully during the night in his sleep.

Born in Dublin, he was educated at St Peter’s National School in Phibsboro and Belvedere College before studying for the priesthood at Holy Cross College, Clonliffe. He was ordained in 1951, taking up a teaching role in UCD.

He was appointed Archbishop of Dublin by the Holy See in 1988 and made a Cardinal-Priest by Pope John Paul II in 2001.

His handling of clerical sexual abuse cases was widely criticised, leading to his replacement by Diarmuid Martin in 2004.