I was born in Nottingham shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. My mother, originally from Lancashire, had moved to Nottingham as a child. My parents met and married in Dublin, my father’s hometown. Soon after the wedding, they moved to Nottingham where eventually they got a house in Old Basford, part of the Parish of Bulwell. It was at Our Lady’s that I was baptised and received, in due course, all the other sacraments. Like my sister Moira several years later, I attended Our Lady’s Primary School. From there in 1950 I went to St. Hugh’s, Tollerton, for my secondary education. Since, for reasons of which I was not and am still not aware, I had opted to learn German rather than French in my second year, Bishop Ellis decided to send me to Innsbruck in the Austrian Tyrol for the first part of my immediate preparation for the priesthood. It was a decision I have never regretted! After two years of philosophy, I came back to England to take up a State Scholarship I had gained at the end of my schooling. In 1962, I returned to Innsbruck for four years of theology. I was ordained priest in my home parish on 23 July 1966, the tenth anniversary of my father’s death.
My first, totally unexpected, appointment was to Oscott College, Sutton Coldfield, where I taught Philosophy for three years. Then I was plunged into parish life, as Assistant to the later (and now late) Canon Monaghan. In 1971 I was off again, this time to St. Hugh’s College, Tollerton, where I taught (and, at the same time, learnt!) a wide range of subjects. The pressure got too much for me; so I asked Bishop Ellis for a move, and he sent me to Sacred Heart, Leicester, as fellow-curate with Father Tony Colebrook and assistant to Fr. Joe Murdock.
For some years (even before Ordination) I had felt a call to contemplative monastic life. I came to realise that I must try it. Thus, in 1975, I entered Quarr Abbey on the Isle of Wight. Shortly before I was due to take my vows, the decision was taken by my monastic superiors that I was not in the right place. With heavy heart I left the monastery and, after a period of re-acclimatisation, was appointed Assistant to Canon Leo McReavy at Our Lady’s, Leicester. After two years, I was sent to St. John Bosco, Leicester, as priest-in-charge. Six months later, I was appointed Assistant to Father Joe Henry at Alfreton.
Two weeks after my arrival there (November 1980), I moved to Ashbourne as Parish Priest. Four permanent addresses in ten months must be a record! In 1983, I was appointed Parish Priest of Ilkeston, and spent eight years there. There followed a period of ill-health, after which, to aid my recovery, I worked for some time with Father Anthony O’Dowd at St. Bernadette’s, Scunthorpe.
On 16 September 1992, I moved to Melbourne and Castle Donington where, in addition to my parish work, I became very much involved at the Sue Ryder Palliative Care Home at Staunton Harold, and was a founder member (January 1999) of the Nottingham East Midlands Airport Chaplaincy Team, my first – and very rewarding - experience of industrial mission.
After eleven happy years on the borders of Derbyshire and Leicestershire, I moved to Grantham (October 2003), which boasts one of the oldest churches in the diocese (consecrated 1833), although its architect would never recognise it, so much has it changed. The church building may be old (older even than the other church within the parish - at Corby Glen), but the spirit of the parish – thanks to the parishioners and priests who have gone before me – is very young and alive.
In 1978, I was asked to help Canon Garrett Sweeney in the diocesan archives, and the following year – after his untimely death – I took over from him as Diocesan Archivist. This additional work, along with my involvement in the Lincoln-Brugge-Nottingham Link, keeps me fairly busy, but leaves me enough time to develop my interest in foreign languages and travelling in Europe. The last forty years have not been a time of unmitigated joy or of success; but I thank God for them nonetheless and pray for his continued help in the years ahead.
Anthony P. Dolan