The priest happened to be in the middle of filming a new Irish-language show at the time
St Mary’s Church in Derrybeg, Co Donegal after the 2025 fire. Photo: Joe Dunne
A remote Donegal parish and its Gaeilgeoir priest became near household names last year when the nation awoke on Easter Monday to learn St Mary’s Church in Derrybeg had burnt to the ground overnight.
Fr Brian Ó Fearraigh had been asleep in the parochial house when he was roused before dawn by a frantic phone call telling him “the church is on fire”. He looked out the back window to see a raging inferno illuminating the sky.