Remembering … fr Kieran Mulvey OP (1913-1988)
fr. Denis Kieran Mulvey was born in Harthill, near Glasgow, on the 27th September 1913. After finishing school he attended the University of Glasgow but left before finishing his degree to join the novitiate at Woodchester in 1934. He made profession on the 5th October 1935 and was ordained priest on the 14th July 1940.
In 1942 he went to Edinburgh to study in the university. His conversations with his superior in Edinburgh, the scripture academic Hugh Pope O.P., led to the publication of a memoir Hugh Pope of the Order of Preachers in 1954. That same year he joined the staff of the school at Laxton, where over the next ten years he played a full and diverse role. During his time there he was, among other things, cantor, archivist, sacristan, and editor of the school magazine. Whilst at Laxton he had two more books published: The Martyrdom of Mary, Queen of Scots (1954) and a history of the White Sisters, Daughters of the Holy Spirit (1955)
In 1955 he was assigned to London and was elected prior three years later. The following years saw a flurry of movement. He was elected Prior of Oxford in 1961, sent to Barbados in 1964 and appointed superior in Edinburgh later that year. In 1966 he was assigned to Leicester to act as chaplain to the prison.
He stayed in Leicester until 1972 when he was sent to the Isle of Wight, to be Chaplain to the Dominican Nuns at Carisbrooke. He briefly returned to London and then again to Leicester and the prison chaplaincy.
He died suddenly on the 30th April 1988, aged 74 with 52 years of profession and 47 of priesthood. He is buried at Gilroes cemetery in Leicester.
Kieran Mulvey’s life in service of the Gospel is an example of the variety and instability that Dominican life entails. Within his time in the order he was a prior, a parish priest, a prison chaplain, a missionary, a convent chaplain and a teacher. He preached from the pulpit, through his books and through his actions.
Eternal Rest Grant Unto Him, O Lord and Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Him
