Fr Colm Mathews (84) died after a long illness on April 26th at Highfield Nursing Home in Drumcondra in Dublin. The last parish in which he had served was that of Saint Anne’s in Bohernabreena.
Fr Colm was born in Glasnevin on January 14th, 1933. His father’s name was Nicholas Aloysius Mathews and his mother’s maiden name was Marjorie Lambe.
His first school was Saint Colmcille’s Holy Faith School in Iona Road. He continued his primary schooling in Saint Vincent’s Christian Brother’s School in Glasnevin and proceeded from there to their secondary school. During his youth he enjoyed being a boy scout, with the boy scout’s prayer being a great source of inspiration to him. From saying it, he came to the conclusion that he wanted to spend his life helping other people.
He went to Clonliffe, the diocesan seminary in 1951. In the course of his training he achieved a degree in Latin and philosophy in UCD and was ordained in 1957.
He was posted as chaplain to the Defence Forces and in 1960 went on a UN peacekeeping mission to the Congo with the 36th Infantry battalion. On arrival they were immediately plunged into battle. The Battle of the Tunnel was a fierce battle in which five Irish soldiers were killed. Fr Colm ministered to those who were injured or fatally wounded or helped to carry them to where medical help was available.
Fr Colm also served in Cyprus and in Rabah in the Sinai Desert. In those peacekeeping missions the troops had to perform their duties in sweltering heat. His hobbies served him well during those military years, as did his training in the boy scouts. He loved fishing, photography, hunting, telling stories and playing cards.
The troops he served with described him as being a man in whom one could confide one’s worries, be they spiritual or temporal. Although he held the rank of officer, he assumed the rank of the soldier to whom he listened. He was considered as being friendly, sociable, caring, and good company.
He was 54 when he went out to Chile in South America, during the end of the dictatorship of Pinochet, to collaborate with the Columban mission there. Being stationed in Iquique in the Atacama desert in the Andes, he served people in a number of villages that were very far apart.
When in the city of Santiago, he studied Spanish in Notre Dame University.
Apart from his service over seas, he ministered in Dublin in Artane, Crumlin, Ballyfermot, Tallaght, North William Street, and Firhouse.
He was very simple in his tastes: on occasions when it was appropriate to present him with a gift, parishioners were careful to give him a very specific present as we knew that a monetary gift would be spent by him on people he considered less fortunate!
During his tenure in Firhouse, Fr Colm organised courses in sacred scripture and in liturgy. He encouraged a vibrant liturgy group where the major Masses of the year were planned. The Stations of the Cross in Lent were made in a procession that proceeded through the parish: people’s homes being the stations, the prayers being led by a member of the family. People took it in turns to carry the cross. With the help of the Legion of Mary, we could host the Blessed Sacrament in our homes and invite our neighbours in to pray!
As I listened to people describe their relation with Father Colm, and as I thought of the situations he faced in life, the motto of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul kept coming to me: the love of Christ urged him on!
He is survived by his nieces and nephews.