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Presentation to Fr Joe McGuane on his transfer as curate from the parish of Ballyhooly in 1993. Standing l-r: Denis Hickey, Mossie O?Connell, Maureen Cahill, Breda O’Neill and Peggy Hartnett. Seated l-r: Billy O’Connell, Jim McCarthy, Fr Joe McGuane and May O’Riordan.

A priest who'd served in Glanworth and Ballyhooly was laid to rest beside the sister he helped care for for the past year after he was tragically killed in a road accident just hours before she died on Thursday last.

Mr Joseph McGuane died after being struck by a car on Thursday evening, while walking along the N25 Carrigtwohill to Midleton road. Just three hours later his older sister Maura, who had been ill for some time, passed away at Marymount Hospice in Cork city.

Fr McGuane, who was 67, had most recently been based at the St Raphael's Centre in Youghal. Ordained in 1970, he served as a curate in Glanworth on two occasions, in 1973 for a year and again from 1979 to 1988. He was curate in Ballyhooly from 1988 to 1994.

Bishop William Crean expressed his deep sadness at the death of Fr McGuane, saying he was very shocked to hear of his death. He had served the people of the diocese of Cloyne for over 40 years as curate, parish priest and then as chaplain to St Raphael's, the bishop pointed out. He extended his sympathy to Fr McGuane's family on his death and that of his sister Maura.

"It was truly poignant that Maura was called to God on the same day as Father Joe, who cared for her so diligently for many years. May they rest in peace," he said.

The staff at St Raphael's Centre released a statement paying tribute to their chaplain, saying he ministered to residents with "dedication, kindness and compassion." He was their priest and confidante, but above all, their friend.

"There was no hour too late, no night too dark that would stall Fr Joe from coming, if called," the statement said, adding that he would be missed by his congregation, colleagues and residents.

Fr McGuane and his sister Maura are mourned by their sister Olive, their niece Tara, grand nephew Sam, sister-in-law Pat, the management, residents and staff of St Raphael's Centre, Youghal, the Bishop and clergy of the Diocese, relatives, neighbours, friends and Fr McGuane's former parishioners in all of the areas he served.

Fr McGuane and his sister were buried after Requiem Mass on Monday at St Mary's Parish church in Youghal. They were buried together at North Abbey cemetery in Youghal.

Fr McGuane is fondly remembered in the Glanworth and Ballyhooly areas. He was a great fan of quizzes and regularly attended them. He was a member of a team with Noel Sheehan from Glanworth and other locals who attended the weekly quizzes for ten years or more held by Fermoy Rowing Club.

Noel also remembers him as being "an exceptional man for the visitation of the sick. He was very comforting in times of illness, he would often sit up at night with the dying, praying for them." He was in many ways an ordinary man, Noel says, and "a very good curate."

Despite having a heavy workload Fr Joe served as treasurer of Glanworth GAA club. "He had enough to do but he felt he should do what he could to help," Noel recalls. Noel also remembers him being considered something of a 'rebel' priest. "He was very forthright in his views," he said.

He was being remembered this week as an outspoken priest who urged his fellow clerics to speak out too and defy the 'culture of fear' he believed pervaded the church in relation to clerical sex abuse. He was the first curate in Cloyne to comment on the scandals that rocked the diocese.

He was critical of church leadership saying they had sailed them into "a perfect storm." Justice had taken a back seat, he charged. He called for a new way of thinking, arguing that the church needed to totally transform itself and guarantee greater transparency.

Fr McGuane said the emphasis within the church had been on authority and control from the top down, with desperately negative consequences.

In another interview, Fr McGuane said priests will be "as rare as hens' teeth' in 30 years if issues such as celibacy weren't addressed. A lot of people saw celibacy as 'selfish and lazy. It is just incomprehensible to the public," he said.

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