Priest to the Poor Clares

Shaun Bennett remembers The Reverend Dom Antony Tumelty OSB

It is with great sadness that we report of the death of Dom Antony Tumelty OSB, priest to the Poor Clares in Much Birch, Herefordshire, aged just 64 years. After a three-year battle with cancer Fr Antony died on Sunday, 27 August 2017 at 3.20pm.

A staunch advocate of the Old Rite, Fr Antony offered Low Mass every Sunday evening. He was a vocal critic of the liturgical changes that came with Vatican II, opposing con-celebration and the “casual dressing down” of clerics, refusing to shun his cassock no matter where he went.

Fr Antony grew up in a very loving, humble, and close-knit family, attending St Illtyds Grammar School in Cardiff. Only a few years after leaving school, he was called to his Benedictine vocation, being professed in 1975 and ordained in 1980 at Belmont Abbey in Herefordshire, choosing St Antony of Egypt as his patron.

Many former members of Belmont Abbey School will recall Fr Antony who for many years was a Housemaster there. After the closure of the school, Fr Antony was given the post of Padre at the SAS camp in Hereford, a role he was immensely proud of, and one where he never failed to speak his mind, even to the highest ranking officers, influencing all.

Fr Antony's homilies were always a joy; sharp, critical of modernism, and always orthodox, earning them a nickname of “Rantonys”, which amused him. Never one to shy away from admonishing those in front of him, Fr Antony spoke the truth honestly and openly. Of his character, it was remarked at his requiem by a military Officer: "He was the kind of man who would opt to just 'do it', and beg forgiveness later.”

Please pray for the repose of the soul of this dearly missed priest.