Monsignor Patrick Joseph Whitney (1894–1942), was an Irish priest who in 1932 founded the

Saint Patrick’s Society for the Foreign Missions St. Patrick's Missionary Society (Latin ''Societas Sancti Patritii pro Missionibus ad Exteros''; also known as the Kiltegan Fathers) is a Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men composed of missionary priests. Its headquar ...

known as the Kiltegan Fathers. Whitney was born in Ballyfermoyle, between

Keadue Keadue, officially Keadew (), is a village in County Roscommon, Ireland. It is on the R284 and R285 regional roads close to the borders of County Leitrim and County Sligo. Keadue is the burial place of the great Irish harper, Turlough O'Ca ...

and

Lough Key Lough Key () is a lake in Ireland. It is in the northwest of County Roscommon, northeast of the town of Boyle. The lough is believed to be named after a mythical figure named Cé. Name The name ''Lough Key'' comes from the Irish ''Loch Cé''. ...

County Roscommon County Roscommon () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the province of Connacht and the Northern and Western Region. It is the List of Irish counties by area, 11th largest Irish county by area and Li ...

, on the borders with

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 ...

and

County Leitrim County Leitrim ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht and is part of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the village of Leitrim, County Leitr ...

. He was educated locally and at St. Mel's College, Longford. He was training as a priest in

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 ...

for the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise when on the invitation of Bishop, Joseph Shanahan,Our History
– St. Patrick's Missionary Society Official Website. he volunteered as a priest in Nigeria where he went with Fr Thomas Roynane in the 1920s. His cousin Fr Patrick Francis Whitney was one of the first three members of the society. In 1939 due to ill health, he returned to Ireland and was replaced as Prefect Apostolic of Ogoja in Nigeria, by future Bishop Thomas McGettrick.

References

1894 births 1942 deaths Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Christian clergy from County Roscommon 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests People educated at St Mel's College {{Ireland-RC-clergy-stub