Fr. Peadar Livingstone (1932 – 8 December 1987) was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

in the Diocese of Clogher, Ireland.

Early life and education

Peadar Livingstone was born in 1932 and raised in Castleblayney,

County Monaghan County Monaghan ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is part of Border Region, Border strategic planning area of the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town ...

. His father was a jeweller. He entered St. Macartan's College, Monaghan, in 1945. Following his secondary school education, he entered Maynooth College to study for the priesthood for the diocese. He studied Celtic languages — Irish and Welsh. He then completed a second degree in theology. He was ordained a priest in 1957. Fr. Livingstone continued his studies at Maynooth; however, he was recalled to the diocese in 1957 before he completed his Higher Diploma in Education.

Teaching career

He was appointed to the teaching staff of St. Michael's College in

Enniskillen Enniskillen ( , from , ' Ceithlenn's island') is the largest town in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. It is in the middle of the county, between the Upper and Lower sections of Lough Erne. It had a population of 14,086 at the 2011 censu ...

, a diocesan seminary in

County Fermanagh County Fermanagh ( ; ) is one of the thirty-two counties of Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of six counties of Northern Ireland. The county covers an area of and had a population of 63,585 as of 2021. Enniskillen is the ...

. At St. Michael's, he taught Irish, history and religious education. Fr. Livingstone was a renowned scholar in both the

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

and local history. In 1969, he published ''The Fermanagh Story'', a comprehensive history of the county of Fermanagh. In 1979, his work ''The Monaghan Story'' was published. He also wrote a regular column for '' The Fermanagh Herald'', a local newspaper, under the name "Ernesense." In 1977, Fr. Livingstone was appointed president of St. Michael's College where he introduced some disciplinary measures, including mandatory uniforms.

Parish Ministry

He was appointed a curate to the parish of Donaghmoyne in 1977. In 1987, he was assigned to the parish of Clogher in

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

where he died suddenly that year.

References

External links

* Father Peadar Livingstone: Ildánach, ''The Clogher Record'', Vol. 10, No. 3 (1981), pp. 279–283 (article consists of 6 pages), published by the Clogher Historical Society * http://www.peterspioneers.com/fermanaghstory.pdf * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Livingstone, Peadar 1932 births 1987 deaths Irish educators 20th-century Irish historians Writers from County Monaghan 20th-century Irish Roman Catholic priests Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth Christian clergy from County Monaghan Date of birth missing Date of death missing Christian clergy from County Fermanagh People from Castleblayney