Irish Bishop murdered in Los Angeles remembered for work in Africa

Murdered Cork-born Bishop David O’Connell earned a reputation as a dedicated advocate for the disadvantaged and immigrant communities in Los Angeles, but he was also committed to helping those in the developing world, The Irish Times has learned.

Bishop O’Connell, who was found dead from a gunshot wound to the chest in his home at Janlu Avenue in Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles on February 18th, had supported and sent funds to a development project in Uganda to provide safe, clean water for local communities.

Nick Jordan, founder and CEO of the Wells of Life Project, told The Irish Times that it was with a great sense of shock and sadness that he had learned of Bishop O’Connell’s murder in Los Angeles as he had been a staunch supporter of the project since he first learned of it in 2019.

Mr Jordan, a native of Wexford, explained that Wells of Life, which is headquartered in San Juan Capistrano in California, is a Christian organisation with a mission to provide rural Ugandans with access to safe, clean water through the installation or restoration of sustainable borehole wells.

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He said the charity, in addition to providing safe clean water to almost one million people in Uganda, also provides educational programmes in water, sanitation and hygiene for local communities and Bishop O’Connell was a strong supporter of its work.

“I had got to know Bishop O’Connell over the past few years as he endorsed, supported, and funded our work of drilling water wells. Bringing water to the poor seemed to fit well with his commitment to speak for those in great need because without water there is no life, only poverty and death.

“Bishop O’Connell was kind, humble and driven to help, no matter how big the challenge – I think that’s why we connected when I first met him back in 2019 because he liked that I had committed my life to solving the world water crisis affecting close to one billion people.”

“But unlike many who speak support for the work of drilling wells, Bishop Ó Connell took out his chequebook and wrote cheques ... cheques that funded wells that honoured his late sister and several parishioners who were committed to helping the poor.”

Describing the late Bishop O’Connell as “an ordinary man” Mr Jordan said that he wrote a letter of introduction for Wells of Life that opened many doors for the charity in local churches in his area of Los Angeles which led to many to donate money to provide water for people across Uganda.

“He was the easiest man to speak with, a practised listener who had heard it all before. He seemed to have time for everyone,” said Mr Jordan who said locals mourned the bishop’s death and laid flowers at one of the wells he had funded after hearing of his murder in Los Angeles.

“On Ash Wednesday the community laid flowers at his well and Fr Max Ssekiwala prayed for Bishop O’Connell’s family, whose hearts must surely be broken beyond repair with this devastating news,” said Mr Jordan, who trained as a National Teacher in Drumcondra.

“The tears of a small rural community 9,300 miles away will form a small stream of tears that will flow over the next week as the bishop is laid to rest,” said Mr Jordan, adding that generations of rural Ugandans will be forever in the debt of the cleric who grew up in Brooklodge near Cork City.

Bishop O’Connell, who is survived by his brother, Kieran, and six nephews and nieces, will be laid to rest following requiem mass on Friday in the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angeles in Los Angeles where he ministered for over 40 years following his ordination in All Hallows in Dublin in 1979.