Fr John Jacob must surely be accorded a special place in the history of our parish (click on photos to enlarge them and see
here for his death notice). His association with us stretches over a whole lifetime, from his childhood in the family business on Main Street, Saggart, to his long years of service as a priest in the Dublin diocese. And now he has taken up final residence in the cemetery just a stone's throw down the road from his home. There, along with generations of local people, including some priests who served here in former days (the most recent being Fr Laurence O'Sullivan, P.P. 1984-2004, d.2007), he waits
in spe resurrectionis (in hope of the Resurrection).
He was in Clonliffe from 1957 to 1960, attending U.C.D. to study Philosophy. He received his B.A. in Maynooth College at an NUI (National University of Ireland) conferring ceremony in November 1960.
Having taken his B.D. (Bachelor of Theology) in Maynooth, he was ordained in Clonliffe for the diocese of Dublin by the Archbishop of Dublin, John Charles McQuaid, on Sunday, 17 May 1964. The six Dublin students and their classmates from the other Irish dioceses made up a total of 65 priests ordained that day. In that year's Maynooth annual ordination classpiece, John Jacob (with name in Irish) is seen in last row, second from left :
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| Maynooth Classpiece 1964 Photo: Michael Comer |
Fr Patrick Gleeson talks about his life as a priest
here. A second classmate, Fr Micheál Comer of Eadestown parish, was the main celebrant at Fr John's funeral Mass in St Mary's, Saggart on Wednesday, 12th March.
