On June 19, 1972, more than a decade and a half after the death of Columban co-founder, Bishop Edward J. Galvin, Columban Father John Blowick died at Dalgan Park in Navan at the age of 83.
A native of County Mayo, Ireland, Father Blowick was the co-founder of the Missionary Society of St. Columban. He’d met with then-Father Galvin in September 1916 about the possibility of founding a missionary society to China.
In the following decades, alongside Bishop Galvin, Father Blowick spearheaded the formation and growth of the Columbans.
In 1920, he was among the first group of Columban Fathers to go to China. He organized the foundation of the Columban Sisters in 1922.
Father Blowick served in a variety of high-ranking positions in the Society, including Superior General, Vicar-General and Director of the Columban Irish Region. Even in his later years, Father Blowick kept up his pace of work, teaching theology at the Columbans’ Dalgan Park seminary, and touring the various Columban missions around the world.
Father Blowick’s hard work and dedication had led to the growth of these missions, and his legacy would live on.
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The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.