Sean Lavery (1931–1999) was a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

priest for the

Missionary Society of St. Columban The Missionary Society of St. Columban ( la, Societas Sancti Columbani pro Missionibus ad Exteros) (abbreviated as S.S.C.M.E. or SSC), commonly known as the Columbans, is a missionary Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right foun ...

("''The Columbans''") and a church music director. Lavery was born in

Lurgan Lurgan () is a town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, near the southern shore of Lough Neagh. Lurgan is about south-west of Belfast and is linked to the city by both the M1 motorway and the Belfast–Dublin railway line. It had a populatio ...

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. Shortly after his ordination in 1954, Father Lavery moved to the United States where he graduated from

Manhattanville College Manhattanville College is a private university in Purchase, New York. Founded in 1841 at 412 Houston Street in lower Manhattan, it was initially known as Academy of the Sacred Heart, then after 1847 as Manhattanville College of the Sacred Hea ...

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, with a degree in music. He was transferred overseas and appointed to the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in

Ozamiz Ozamiz, officially the City of Ozamiz ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Ozamiz; fil, Lungsod ng Ozamiz), is a 3rd class component city in the province of Misamis Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 140,334 people. ...

in the Philippines. He held many posts including leading the liturgical and musical development and musical development for the diocese. As part of this effort, he commissioned the building of a pipe organ in Germany; the organ was exported from Europe and installed in the Cathedral in 1967. It is one of the few pipe organs in the Philippines. Though hardly intended at the time, this pipe organ has now become one of the singular tourist attractions for Ozamiz City and the Archdiocese of Ozamiz. Fr. Lavery left the Philippines in 1977 to study for his doctorate in sacred music in Rome. In 1980, he was transferred to Ireland where he assumed the post of Director of Sacred Music at

St Patrick's College, Maynooth St Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth ( ga, Coláiste Naoimh Phádraig, Maigh Nuad), is the "National Seminary for Ireland" (a Roman Catholic college), and a pontifical university, located in the town of Maynooth, from Dublin, Ireland ...

. A prolific composer, Father Lavery was passionate about

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

and influenced many future musicians, including Father

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, a popular singer/priest in Ireland He was a member of the Irish Church Music Association and was, from the spring of 1984 to the winter of 1987, editor of ''Jubilius'', a Maynooth publication. He resigned his position to do parish work in Jamaica in 1987, where he rebuilt his church after it was destroyed by Hurricane Gilbert. Father Lavery died in 1999. He was buried at the Columban Father House in

Navan Navan ( ; , meaning "the Cave") is the county town of County Meath, Ireland. In 2016, it had a population of 30,173, making it the tenth largest settlement in Ireland. It is at the confluence of the River Boyne and Blackwater, around 50&nbs ...

County Meath County Meath (; gle, Contae na Mí or simply ) is a county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Ireland, within the province of Leinster. It is bordered by Dublin to the southeast, Louth to the northeast, Kildare to the south, Offaly to the ...

on 29 March 1999.http://www.irishnews.com/searchlog.asp?reason=denied_empty&script_name=/pageacc.asp&path_info=/pageacc.asp&tser1=ser&par=ben&sid=401992 A church hall in Jamaica whose construction was partly financed by Lurgan people was opened in 2001, it was named "The Father Sean Lavery Faith Hall" in his memory at Savanna -La-Mar.

References

External links

* Bernad, Miguel S.J. “How An Entire City Built An Organ”, History Against the Landscape. Manila: Solidaridad Publishing House, 1968. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lavery, Sean 1931 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Filipino Roman Catholic priests Filipino musicians People from Lurgan Manhattanville College alumni Academics of St Patrick's College, Maynooth