Gloucestershire Echo/1943/Rev. Sir John O'Connell

The Rev. Sir John Robert O'Conell, formerly a leading Dublin solicitor and a director of the National Bank of Ireland, died at Brockenhurst, Hants, yesterday, aged 75.

He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest at Westminster in 1929, a few months after the death of his wife.

Sir John received his knighthood in 1914, as a layman, He was formerly head of Thomas F. O'Connell and Son, solicitors, of Dublin, a ember of the Senate o Dublin University, and of the governing body of the University of Cork.

It is unusual for a widower to become a Roman Catholic priest.

His ordination by Cardinal Bourne meant the end of a distinguished career as a solicitor and banker.

A wealthy man, he gave up his Dublin practice, sold his home, which included a valuable art collection and library, and firstly entered the Benedictine monastery of Downside Abbey, Bath.

When ordained he was attached for a time to Warwick-street Church and St. Patrick's Soho-square, London.