As 1919 rolled around, the nascent Columban Fathers were beginning to shape their organization, and they now had a facility in Ireland for their work.
The Columbans had purchased a long-abandoned property in the townland of Shrule, County Mayo, in Ireland’s picturesque West Coast region.
There they established the seminary of Dalgan Park, which served as a training college for future Columban priests.
The college itself opened on January 27, 1918, with a class of 19 seminarians. On June 19, 1919, Father Timothy O’Callaghan of County Cork, Ireland, was ordained, making him the first Columban ordination at Dalgan Park.
There would be many more in the following years.
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The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.