A priest with strong Donegal connections has died after a fall in Wales.
Donegal-educated Fr Donal Gillespie, died at the Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend in Wales after a fall outside the Church of St Joseph of Arimathe, Pyle.
The 85 year old priest was educated at St Eunan’s College in Letterkenny and had been a piest for more than 50 years.
Fr Gillespie was originally from the Derry Road in Omagh.
He was a reporter for the Ulster Herald but was accepted for the Diocese of Cardiff in 1953 and commenced his training for the priesthood at St Peter’s College, Wexford.
He spent all his years in the priesthood in Wales, his final appointment at St Joseph of Aramathea in Pyle where he retired in 2002.
Fr Gillespie often returned to visit Omagh and was on a visit during the summer of 1998 when the devastating bomb exploded killing 29 people and unborn twins.
He spent many days tending to the injured and comforting the families of those who had died and later spoke about the profound impact the atrocity had on him.
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