Neil Farren
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neil Farren (25 March 1893 – 7 May 1980),[1] Bishop of Derry and Apostolic Administrator, was an Irish educator, activist, and Roman Catholic priest.
Neil Farren was born in Buncrana, County Donegal, Ireland and received his secondary education at St. Columb's College in Derry. He graduated from University College, Dublin with first class honours BA in 1914. He received a Bachelor of Divinity and a Doctor of Divinity from Maynooth College in 1916 and 1918, respectively. At the end of World War I in November 1918, he was ordained to the priesthood for service in the Derry Diocese.[2]
After ordination, he took on postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, and was awarded the degree of Doctor of Canon Law for his (later published) thesis 'Domicile and Quasi-Domicile'. As a priest, he taught in Derry and became President of St. Columb's College in Derry at the age of 35, and served in this post from 1928 until 1939 when he was appointed bishop. He was bishop when the building of the new St. Columb's College was begun. He was a brilliant mathematician and administrator who had an interest in design also, e.g. he designed the St. Columb's College crest and suggested to architect Liam McCormick, to base the design for a new St. Aengus church, Burt, County Donegal on the ancient Grianan of Aileach ring fort that stands on a hill above what is today the architectural award-winning, circular, church building.
