Retired Archbishop of Tuam Joseph Cassidy has died.
An Táiniste Eamon Gilmore lead tributes to the Archbishop this morning, expressing his sadness at the news and extending his sympathies to his family.
“Dr Cassidy was my former teacher. He was also a friend whom I will greatly miss.He was a man of compassion, learning and culture. He made an enormous contribution to the Church and to the wider community. He enriched the lives of all those with whom he came into contact,” he said.
“I wish to express my deepest sympathy with his family.”
Archbishop Michael Neary also remebered the “much loved” priest, saying that he was privileged to have been his friend.
“It was with much sadness that I heard the news of the passing of Archbishop Joseph Cassidy. Archbishop Cassidy was a much loved pastor throughout his long life and varied ministry. People and priests knew him as a deeply spiritual man and as a gifted teacher and communicator. Archbishop Cassidy was acknowledged throughout Ireland as a most articulate spokesman for the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference throughout the 1980s.
“I express my sincere condolences to his family, to the priests of the Archdiocese of Tuam, to the dioceses of Achonry and Clonfert and to his very wide circle of friends within which I was privileged to be included. Ar Dheis Dé go raibh sé!”
Originally from Mayo, Archbishop Cassidy was first ordained on 21 June 1959 in the Achonry Diocese before moving to Clonfert, where he began teaching at St Joseph’s College, Garbally. He became President of St Joseph’s in 1977 and went on to be ordained as Coadjutor Bishop of Clonfert in 1979. He was translated to Tuam as Archbishop in September 1987 before retiring in June 1995 and going on to serve as a parish priest in Moore until 2009.
