FR MICHAEL Keane, the Co Mayo clergyman who founded Knock Marriage Bureau 43 years ago, died at the weekend aged 85.
Fr Keane, a priest of the archdiocese of Tuam, was dubbed “Ireland’s Cupid Priest” after founding the bureau in 1968.
The bureau, which is now run by Canon Joseph Cooney, is still prospering despite the success of the internet and dating agencies.
Since 1968 it has been responsible for almost 900 marriages and more than 48,000 introductions. In a recent interview Fr Keane explained his reasons for establishing the bureau.
“Back in the 1960s there was much wringing of hands about the low marriage rate in rural Ireland and I thought such an introductions bureau would help.”
In the late 1970s Fr Keane, then Dublin based, became embroiled in controversy when he was stripped of his priestly duties when he argued with his parish priest over how the parish should function. He was evicted from his parish home and forbidden to say Mass in public.
In 2000, Fr Keane was reinstated at St Jude’s Church in Templeogue by the then archbishop Dr Desmond Connell. The reconciliation came as a great relief to the then 75-year-old after more than two decades of feeling shunned and isolated.
Fr Keane, a native of Claremorris, will be laid to rest tomorrow following Requiem Mass at midday in St Colman’s Church, Claremorris.