Dom Antony Tumelty
Fr Antony Tumelty died on 27th August 2017, in his 64th year. He had been professed as a monk of Belmont for 43 years andordained a priest for 37 years.
When Dom Antony Tumelty died at the Marie Curie Hospice in Penarth on the afternoon of 27th August 2017, he was only 63 years’ old. He had suffered with cancer for a long time and had fought valiantly against ill health. We are deeply indebted to the staff at Velindre Cancer Hospital, Cardiff, and to his brother John for the wonderful care given to Fr Antony in the last three years of his life.
Peter Tumelty was born in Cardiff on 21st April 1954, the younger son of John and Isabella Tumelty, and was educated at St Illtyd’s College, taking a great interest in dramatic arts. He came to Belmont in 1974, being clothed on 28th September, together with Br Francis McKenna. They was solemnly professed by Abbot Jerome Hodkinson on 29th September 1978, studied for the Priesthood at Allen Hall in London and were ordained together on 21st March 1980. They are now buried together at Belmont.
Fr Antony studied Drama at the Welsh School of Music and Drama and was both a great actor and a successful director of plays and musicals. He was the much-loved Housemaster of Vaughan until the closure of the school in 1994, when he moved to St Francis Xavier, Hereford, as assistant to Fr Christopher Jenkins. Not long afterwards, his health deteriorated. After prolonged treatment in and out of hospital, he was appointed Chaplain to the Poor Clares at Much Birch, where the nuns made a small flat for him in the guesthouse. He also served as Chaplain to the Armed Forces in Herefordshire for 10 years.
He was much sought after as a confessor and had a particular empathy for those suffering bereavement. He grew to love the Extraordinary Rite of the Mass and celebrated it as often as he could, encouraging others to do the same. He had a rare wit and was always entertaining, even when feeling very unwell. Until the last few weeks of his life, his acting skills, devilish sense of humour and deep love for others helped him camouflage his suffering and pain. He accepted God’s will with exemplary faith, courage and humility. Requiescat in pace.
