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Andrew Kerins (; 18 May 1840 – 17 April 1915), known by his religious name Brother Walfrid, was an Irish Marist Brother and is best remembered for being the founder of Scottish football club
Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...
.


Life

Walfrid was born of John Kerins and Elizabeth Flynn in
Ballymote Ballymote () is a market town in southern County Sligo, Ireland. It is around 20 km south of Sligo town in the province of Connacht, which is in the north-west of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Ballymote lies in the Barony (Ireland), barony ...
, a village in south
County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...
in
Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...
in the west of Ireland. His ancestors, the '' Ó Céirín'' (later anglicised as "Kerins"), were anciently
Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...
lords of '' Ciarraige Locha na nÁirne'', with a long history in
County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...
. He studied teaching and in 1864 joined The Marist Brothers Teaching Order. He moved to Scotland in the 1870s and taught at St. Marys School and the
Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...
School where he was appointed headmaster in 1874. He also helped found St. Joseph's College, Dumfries. In 1888, he founded The Celtic Football Club as a means of raising funds for the
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
poor and deprived in the East End of
Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. In 1893, Walfrid was sent by his religious order to London's East End. Here he continued his work, organising football matches for and showing great kindness to the barefoot Catholic children in the districts of
Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...
and Bow. The charity established by Walfrid was named ''The Poor Children's Dinner Table''. He died on 17 April 1915, leaving a surviving brother, Peter, in Cloghboley, County Sligo. Walfrid is buried in the Mount St. Michael Cemetery in
Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
.


Commemoration

A commemorative sculpture of Walfrid was erected outside
Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...
on 5 November 2005. The sculpture by Kate Robinson was cast in
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
and its pedestal carved from
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
. The statue cost £30,000 which was funded entirely by donations organised by the Brother Walfrid Committee, including £5,000 from then chairman of the club, Brian Quinn.MacDonald, Hugh
I’ve travelled half a million miles in my years here... It’s time to go
, ''The Herald'', 29 September 2007. The veil for the unveiling ceremony was made by workshops in fourteen schools and community centres throughout Glasgow. Funded by Sense Over Sectarianism, artists worked with young people to create images of footballers and football strips which were digitally printed onto the veil itself. The unveiling was performed by former assistant manager and player Sean Fallon, himself a native of Sligo. The ceremony was attended by the
Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pop ...
, the Most Reverend Mario Conti who blessed the statue, several thousand fans and former Celtic and Rangers captains and managers Billy McNeil and
John Greig John Greig (born 11 September 1942) is a Scottish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. He spent his entire career with Rangers F.C., Rangers, as a player, manager and d ...
. New music for the ceremony called ''Walfrid at the Gates of Paradise'' was composed by relative James MacMillan. Archbishop Conti presented club officials with a Celtic cross from the church where Celtic were established, Saint Mary's, Calton the second oldest church in the Archdiocese of Glasgow. After the ceremony, the Celtic Charity Fund presented a cheque of £5,000 for St Mary's, to help the restoration fund for the church and to recognise the important link between club and community. A further sculpture, a bust of Brother Walfrid, commemorating his links with his home town of Ballymote, was unveiled in the public park there in 2005.


See also

*
Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...
* History of Celtic F.C.


References


External links

*
Biography of Brother Walfrid
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walfrid, Brother 1840 births 1915 deaths Celtic F.C. 19th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Christian clergy from County Sligo Marist Brothers 20th-century Scottish Roman Catholic priests People from Ballymote