Fr. John Downey remembered as ‘normal, long-distance running electrician’ who following late vocation ministered to dying at Greysteel

Fr. Peter Madden, in his funeral homily at St. Eugene’s in Moneyneena, told the congregation it was a conversation he had had a few times with Fr. John when they used to meet for lunch prior to his ill health and sad passing on Monday.

“John said the events of that night would remain with him always and I have no doubt that they did. John wouldn't have been one for facing the cameras and giving interviews but he was the priest that walked into the pub that night and faced what was before him anointing each victim with a touch of the Lord,” he said.

Fr. Madden remarked how the ‘experience of that night would never leave him but he carried on and most people wouldn't have been any the wiser as the years went by that he had shared in that trauma’.

Chief among mourners at Fr. John’s funeral in south Derry on Thursday were his siblings including his sister Roma, who gave the first reading, and her daughter Reilly Marie Downey Anspaugh, who gave the second.

The congregation was told how Fr. John had always signed his name ‘Fr. John B. Downey’ in honour of St. John Bosco and a brother of his mother Maude who had died young while away training to be a Salesian.

He had had a late vocation having worked for years as an electrician at the Essex factory and had been a keen long-distance runner with the Sparta club in his native Derry city.

Fr. Madden explained that he first met Fr. John in Ballymagroarty almost 40 years ago.

“Shorty after he was ordained a priest on June 3, 1984, his good friend Bishop Edward Daly appointed him temporary curate in Holy Family Parish in Ballymagroarty for the summer.

“And by the way, when I say a good friend I mean a very good friend. He was a very good friend. He was part, I suppose, you might say, of an unspoken inner circle that surrounded Bishop Daly for many years.

"Way back in the day when the then Fr. Daly was producing the famous St. Columb's Hall pantomimes and Sunday night variety shows John was an important part of that group that made it all happen. Without John there would have been no stage lights!” he joked, referring to Fr. John’s former career as an electrician.

He spoke of how the newly-ordained priest had made a strong impression when he arrived at Ballymagroarty, especially given the tragic loss of his father Paddy, which had occurred at the time of his ordination.

“Looking back now in those first weeks of John's priestly life, there was so much evidence of the character, the stoicism and the commitment to his vocation that would define the next 39 years of his priestly ministry.

"Though he had been looking forward, as did his family, to his ordination, for so long, sadly John's father Paddy died in the days leading up to it.

“The funeral took place on a Saturday. John was ordained a priest the next day. He often said to me he was forever grateful to Bishop Daly who persuaded him not to cancel. 'Just go on ahead with it John.' But John had to dig really deep. What John lacked in stature John had an abundance of in character.”

Fr. Madden told mourners how Fr. John served in St. Patrick’s Pennyburn until 1989 when he moved to the Parish of Faughanvale,

In 1997 he was appointed to Limavady and remained in Ballykelly until 2004.

"Then he came to us, to Ballinascreen where he ministered faithfully for 19 years. He was the longest residing priest to have lived in Moneyneena,” the congregation was told.

Another conversation Fr. John and Fr. Madden used to have over lunch was about how difficult he had always found it having to attend the death of a parent when the children were still at school

“The loss of his mother when he was only 11 and John was the eldest in the family defined his outreach to those who lost loved ones, especially young families.

“It was an example really of someone using their own pain and loss to comfort those were now experiencing what he knew only too well,” Fr. Madden said.

Rev. Dónal McKeown, Bishop of Derry, took part in the concelebration of Fr. John’s Funeral Mass.

In closing remarks he said: “Today we give thanks to the God who took a normal, long-distance running electrician and helped him to believe that he could be used to celebrate the mystery of God's love and mercy for his people.

“As Fr. Peter suggested, being ordained in 1984 for Derry had its own challenges. The city, and wider area, had already gone through sixteen years of terrible conflict and had more than a decade of bombs and bullets and prisons to endure but very often tough times can bring out the best in people and we do know from the bible how god has often used unexpected people to do great little things.”

Following his Funeral Mass in Ballinascreen, Fr. John’s remains were taken to his native Derry City where he was interred in the City Cemetery.

He is mourned by his siblings Pat, Ann, Jacinta and Roma.