Fr Noel O’Neill was born in Limerick on 19th December 1932. He was educated at CBS Limerick, Ballinasloe NS, and St Joseph’s College, Ballinasloe. He came to Dalgan in 1950 and was ordained priest on 21st December 1956.
Appointed to Korea, after language studies he spent time in Chollanamdo, and Mokpo before returning for a longer period to Bouk Dong Church in Kwangju. He was appointed Vice-Superior and later District Superior of Kwangju in 1974.
During his years in parish work in Kwangju he became acquainted with the Mou Dong Institution. This housed 500 marginalised persons of both sexes, who were mentally ill, intellectually disabled, orphans, homeless and the elderly. There he began to hear the call of those with intellectual disabilities who always welcomed his visits with open arms.
In 1981, the International Year of the Disabled, Noel sought permission from his superiors to begin a new ministry to people with special needs. He opened the first Emmaus Centre with Myeong Sek, whom he took from a large institution called the Beggar’s Camp, and together with a volunteer, they went to live in a two-story house in a residential part of the city.
He set up a Rainbow Community to enhance the image of people with disabilities and their competencies. He worked to bring about a change of attitude towards those with intellectual disabilities within their families, within the community at large, and within the government departments responsible for the provision of services.
There followed centres and services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities as well as workshops, a factory programme, a programme for the homebound, a day-care centre and sixteen Emmaus Communities.
The way of life of those with intellectual disabilities from womb to tomb was often seen by wider society in Korea as a failure, a disappointment to their families, a burden on the taxpayer. But Noel campaigned for better services and greater recognition by society of the ‘differently-abled’ and those marginalised because of their disabilities.
He wrote: “We need to listen to the prophetic message of our Emmaus friends so that we may become more caring people.”
Right to the end of his life Noel himself was a living example of all the blessings gained from so many years in this life-giving apostolate.
Noel returned to the Dalgan Nursing Home in poor health in April 2024 and died peacefully there on Sunday 1st June 2025, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord.
May he rest in peace.
Funeral Mass for Fr Noel O’Neill
