The Priests: NI clerics hang up their mics as professional singing career comes to a conclusion

Having performed their first musical collaboration in 1974 as schoolboys in St MacNissi’s College, Garron Tower, the trio of Fr Eugene and Fr Martin O'Hagan with Fr David Delargy have since achieved millions of record sales, received multiple awards, travelled the globe, and played countless concerts.

The three men became known as The Priests when in April 2008 they signed a recording contract in front of Westminster Cathedral.

The event featured in Sir Trevor McDonald’s concluding comments that very evening in the national news and subsequently in the international print media, even making the front cover of Time Magazine.

Over that time, Fr Eugene, Fr Martin and Fr David have performed for the Pope, members of the Royal family, and the President of Ireland.

They have been the recipients of numerous awards, including MBEs in the Queen’s New Year honours list 2020 in recognition of their contribution to music and charity in Northern Ireland.

The alma mater of all three men, Queen's University Belfast, also recognised them as Graduates of the Year in 2009.

Income from music sales and concerts has funded their charitable trust, The Priests’ Foundation, which has helped build schools in Cambodia, Uganda and Thailand, and has also been used to help look after retired priests, the homeless, and supplying schools with music apparatus.

Speaking last year after the announcement of their farewell tour, Fr Eugene said: “When we signed our recording contract in 2008, we had a line put in it that said our music career would never encroach on our diocesan work. As times change, and we get a little older, this is becoming more and more difficult to coordinate. Our 50th anniversary seems the right time to step back from performing live as a group."

The trio expressed their gratitude for the unfailing support and encouragement they have received from the bishops and priests in Down and Connor Diocese and of the parishioners in those parishes where they have served over the years.

The Priests’ farewell performances took place between September 2024 and January 2025 at The Lark, Balbriggan; Market Place, Armagh; The Braid, Ballymena; and in the Guildhall, Derry, concluding on January 5 at the Ulster Hall, Belfast featuring the Ulster Orchestra.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster on Monday, January 13, Fr Eugene said that after 50 years singing together and almost two decades together as The Priests, their journey had come to a "celebratory conclusion". He added that they will individually continue to sing locally with choir groups and at Mass, as they had done before taking up their microphones professionally.

In a singing career filled with highlights, one that was "particularly special" took place after the release of their first album, when the group performed to a capacity audience in the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, he added.

Fr Eugene, Fr Martin and Fr David continue to serve as full time priests in the Diocese of Down and Connor.