Monsignor Michael G. Olden BA, BD, DHistEccl. (1935 - 2021) was an Irish priest, historian and educator who served as President of

Maynooth College St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth (), is a pontifical Catholic university in the town of Maynooth near Dublin, Ireland. The college and national seminary on its grounds are often referred to as Maynooth College. The college was of ...

from 1977 to 1985 and hosted the visit of Pope John Paul II to the college in 1979.

Early life and education

He was born in

Cappoquin Cappoquin (), also sometimes spelt Cappaquin, is a town in western County Waterford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is on the Munster Blackwater, Blackwater river at the junction of the N72 road (Ireland), N72 national secondary road and the R ...

in 1935 in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Waterford and Lismore The Diocese of Waterford and Lismore ( Irish: ''Deoise Phort Láirge agus Leasa Móire'' ) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Ireland. It is one of six suffragan dioceses in the ecclesiastical province of Cashel (also known as Munster) ...

and educated at

Mount Melleray Abbey Mount Melleray Abbey () is a Trappist monastery in Ireland, founded in 1833. It is situated on the slopes of the Knockmealdown Mountains, near Cappoquin, Diocese of Waterford. It closed in 2025. History The Cistercian order itself dates back ...

College,

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

and Maynooth where he was ordained in June 1960. He undertook postgraduate studies at the Gregorian University in Rome in ecclesiastical history and in Oct 1966 was appointed to the staff of St. Patrick's College, Maynooth. He served as vice-president from 1976 to 1977 and then when

Tomas O'Fiach Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomàs, a Catalan given name and surname * ...

was made

Archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

, Michael Olden assumed the duties of president until 1985. In that time he served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) () is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called '' constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under the Irish Universities Act 1908, and signifi ...

. During his tenure as president of Maynooth he oversaw the fundraising and planning for the building of the new library. As a historian, Dr. Olden contributed to many academic publications such as ''

Archivium Hibernicum ''Archivium Hibernicum'' is a peer-reviewed history journal published annually by the Catholic History Society of Ireland. It was established in 1912 and edited by Dr. James MacCaffrey, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Maynooth College ...

''. In 2005 it was reported that he was among the college staff interviewed by Denis McCullough SC in his report into the handling of claims against

Micheál Ledwith Micheál Ledwith (whose first name is often reported as Michael) is a former Catholic priest of the Diocese of Ferns in County Wexford from 1967 to 2005. Early years at Maynooth After a promising academic start he was promoted rapidly and serv ...

Post-Maynooth Ministry

Monsignor Olden returned to the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore to serve in parish ministry, first as PP of

Clonmel Clonmel () is the county town and largest settlement of County Tipperary, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The town is noted in Irish history for its resistance to the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland, Cromwellian army which sacked the towns of Dro ...

and then as Parish Priest of

Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. It has a population of 11,277 as per the 2022 census, the second largest town in the county. Overview Originally a small fishing village, the area saw rapi ...

. He also served as

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

under Bishop William Lee. He was often in demand as a homilist at important diocesan liturgies. Mgr Olden delivered the homily at the Ordination Mass of Father Alphonsus Cullinan as Bishop of Waterford & Lismore. In 2008 he contributed a chapter ‘Tobias Kirby (1804‐1895): the man who kept the papers’ to The Irish College Rome and its World edited by D. Keogh & A. McDonnell. He retired from full-time ministry in 2009. Maintaining his interest in History and Irish Church History in particular, Mgr. Olden presented a talk on Canon Patrick Power at a seminar in WIT, in March 2012. In 2013 he delivered a lecture to the Waterford Archaeological and Historical Society entitled ''Prominent Churchmen From Waterford and Lismore in the 19th century''. He died on 30 August 2021 in

Dungarvan Dungarvan () is a coastal town and harbour in County Waterford, on the south-east coast of Ireland. Prior to the merger of Waterford County Council with Waterford City Council in 2014, Dungarvan was the county town and administrative centre of ...

and was buried from

Church.

Publications

*''The Parish of Tramore and Carbally'' by Michael Olden and Andy Taylor. *''Episcipal comments on the "Decreta pro recta regimine ecclesiarum hiberniae", 1635-6'', by Michael Olden, Archivium Hibernicum 27 (1964) 1-12. *''The Faith Journey of the Déise People'' (Waterford, 2018).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olden, Michael Irish educators 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Presidents of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Year of birth missing (living people) People from Cappoquin Christian clergy from County Waterford People educated at Mount Melleray School