Mayo rosary priest Fr. Patrick Peyton left an everlasting legacy
by Patrick Fox
Patrick Joseph Peyon was born in Carracastle, near Ballina, beneath the shadows of the great Ox Mountains on January 9, 1909, to parents John Peyton and Mary Gillard.
He was the sixth of a family of five girls and four boys living on a small holding of land. He attended Bofield National School at the age of five and later went to Bonniconlon National School, run by Tadhg O’Leary, where Patrick stayed with his grandparents, Robert and Kitty Gillard. He was enrolled in Currower School in 1924.
A farmer from a nearby village needed help picking potatoes and it was while staying with them, Patrick realised that this family was different than his, as there was no spirit of faith and no family Rosary.
Patrick decided to then share his love for Mary and the family Rosary with this family and they begin to pray the Rosary nightly.
John Peyton, Patrick’s father, had a dominant quality which was his spirit of faith and he led the family in prayer every night by kneeling and praying the family Rosary.
It was at the age of nine that John Barrett, a family friend, arranged for young Patrick to attend Mass daily.
This nurtured Patrick’s desire to become a priest which grew with every retreat that was given at St. Joseph’s Church in Attymass.
This village lies beneath the shadows of the tranquil settings of the great Ox Mountains, overlooking the historic town of Foxford through which the grand old River Moy flows.
The river and lakes are the perfect backdrop which would set the scene for both prayer and peaceful reflection.
By his teens, religious orders, such as the Capuchins and the Redemptorists, visited local schools seeking young men to join the priesthood. Patrick decided that he would work the family farm because his father was ill.
In 1927, at the aged 18, Patrick decided to go to the United States of America with his brother Tom following an invitation from his three sisters in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Patrick and his brother Tom eventually arrived in New York and stayed at the home of their sister Beatrice.
Patrick’s sister Nellie had already spoken to Monsignor Paul Kelly of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to see if Patrick could study for the priesthood.
In June 1928 Monsignor Kelly offered Patrick a position as the Cathedral’s sexton. Patrick accepted. He completed his high school education.
He and his older brother Tom joined the priesthood following a visit in the spring of 1929 by Fr. Pat Dolan of the Congregation of the Holy Cross. Patrick and Tom entered the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Notre Dame, Indiana, as seminarians.
Patrick went to the Moreau Seminary within the grounds of University of Notre Dame in 1932. He pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree and excelled in Philosophy.
In October 1938, while studying in his second year of theology at the Catholic University of America, Washington DC, Patrick was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was transferred back to Notre Dame.
Patrick had a huge devotion to our blessed Mother Mary and it was then that he started to pray to her for healing and recovery. His own doctors were amazed by his recovery and his health improved. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 15, 1941.
Giving thanks for his miraculous cure through the intervention of Mary he pledged to bring the Rosary family prayer to millions throughout all homes in America and the entire world.
He was supported by Fr. Cornelius Hagerty, who encouraged him to seek our Blessed Virgin’s intercession. He eventually returned to Washington DC to complete his studies.
Patrick was given very light duties after he completed his theological studies. He was assigned to Albany, New York, as a chaplain to the Holy Cross Brothers.
In parish work, he stressed the importance of family prayer. He used the power of the media such as films, advertising, radio, newspapers and television to get his message across.
He was assisted by some of Hollywood’s famous stars, like former American President Ronald Regan, the old crooner, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Reymond Burr, James Deane, Rosalind Russell, Robert Young, and opera singer Placido Domingo.
Celebrities in Hollywood offered him their services free of charge and used their many talents to proclaim the Rosary Crusade which Fr. Patrick Peyton devoted himself to by using the different mediums.
These Hollywood stars who were regular guests on his radio programme would use scripts depicting the power of the Rosary which would often carry the prayerful message.
His voice would often tremble with sincerity across the airways when praying the Rosary and could also be heard which echoed beneath the great Ox Mountains and along the River Moy.
He had a setback in relation to his health in the early 1970s when he had to undergo heart surgery, but he survived and continued to campaign once again with new-found vigour.
Patrick was indeed also aware that more and more families were gathering together around their radios. He immediately took advantage of this medium and quickly applied it promoting the Rosary through his Rosary Crusade.
He knew that the power of the radio was instrumental in bringing his message to all corners of the world through his popular radio show.
He pioneered and conducted public rallies to bring families together using the power of prayer. It was at the height of the Cold War which threatened world peace.
“The Rosary is the offensive weapon that will destroy Communism - the great evil that seeks to destroy the faith.”
Fr. Patrick Peyton continued to promote prayer, which was recognised by the Holy See, and it eventually earned him the title as ‘The Rosary Priest’.
Fr. Patrick Peyton is best remembered for promoting the Rosary and Marian Devotions. The Rosary Crusade took Fr. Patrick Peyton all around the world to Belgium, Madrid, Spain and Manila in 1985 where he was to address two million people.
He addressed crowds in New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Lima, Peru and Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. He eventually brought the Rosary Crusade to Ireland where it was estimated that as many as 445,000 people attended rallies.
He coined the slogan, ‘The family that prays together stays together.’
Fr. Peyton passed away on June 3, 1992, at the age of 83 in the gentle care of the Little Sisters of the Poor in San Pedro, California, and was interred in the Cemetery of the Congregation of the Holy Cross Fathers in North Easton, Massachusetts. His final words were “Mary, my Queen, my Mother.”
Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley announced the cause for his canonisation on June 1, 2001, after receiving the approval from the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. This immediately paved the way to sainthood for Fr. Peyton in which he received the title Servant of God.
He was honoured and was made a Mayo Man of the Year in 1988. He left an everlasting legacy throughout the world which has stood the test of time.
Fr. Patrick Peyton always believed that the power of prayer was the corner stone of the family prayer and was therefore the unity that held the family together.
I composed the following ballad to mark the 33rd anniversary of his death.
The Ballad of Fr Patrick Peyton CSC
From beneath the great Ox Mountains in a place called Attymass
In the month of May in Bofield School aged five he went to class
And the year of Nineteen-Seventeen on to Bonniconlon School
Near the home of his grandparents who kept a firm rule
Before the age of fifteen years ‘twas the year of Twenty-Three
This young man grew in saintly ways, his goodness was the key
He was enrolled in Currower School in Nineteen Twenty-Four
But then he left the school and thought of leaving Ireland’s shore
In Nineteen Twenty-Seven his sisters sent the word
And Patrick and his brother Tom set sail for the New World
America became their home like Irishmen before
And Patrick joined the priesthood, his vocation to explore
He became a holy priest when he was ordained
A founder of the Prayer Crusade beyond the Western Plains
He laboured with the rich and poor to spread Our Lady’s prayer
Far from the shores of Ireland which once we all did share
Millions pray throughout the world today because of what he did
He rallied in Sao Paulo, the Philippines up to Madrid
He used the local radio, TV and the great outdoors
He led many public Masses in sunshine and downpours
In the Marian Year of Fifty-Four to Ireland made his way
Where millions they would gather round to humbly kneel and pray
This holy man he passed away in June of Ninety-Two
From his humble stone white cottage for which he would hold true
He is buried in a churchyard grave far from his Mayo home
Where the curlew and the lark still sing as a boy he used to roam
Like millions more he had to go from the land he loved so well
Fr Peyton is a local saint whose tale we’re proud to tell.
We will pray he’ll intercede for us as we journey on our way
And help us in the life we live now and every single day
His prayers will all be heard, we know, he was such a holy man
Someday he’ll be a Saint of ours, we hope that’s in God’s plan.
© Patrick Fox 2025.