September 2007.

The new parish priest of Polegate and Hailsham, came from the beautifully named church, St Mary of the Angels, Worthing West Sussex, where he had been for three years.

Roger Patrick Kelly was born on September 24, 1949, in Nenagh Hospital, Co. Tipperary. and baptized there the following day, as was the custom.  Father Rory, as he prefers to be called, tells me: “For many years, I took it for granted, incorrectly as I later discovered, that I was baptized in the Sacred Heart Church, Borrisoleigh, the parish church attended by my family”.  He made his First Holy Communion at the age of seven.

Having attended the local school, Fantane National School between the years 1954-62, he was confirmed with the school group in 1961. in the Sacred Heart Church , Borrisleigh, before enrolling at the Patrician Brothers College boarding school, in Ballyfin, Co. Laois until 1967. Father Rory then joined the Salesian College of Agriculture in Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick for a year, before entering St Patrick Seminary at Thurles, Co. Tipperary, in September 1968.  He was ordained in June 1974, for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, and was sent to St Anne’s Banstead, where he remained for four years, followed by a four month sabbatical.  His second appointment was at St John the Baptist, Kemptown Brighton, serving there for the next three years, before being sent in August 1981, to St Dunstan’s, Woking, Surrey.  After a stay of four years, Father Rory moved on to St Paul’s, Haywards Heath, where he spent a further eight years. This was followed by a ten year spell in an ecumenical project in Christ the Lord shared church in Broadfield, Crawley. It was from there that he went to Worthing.

From the outset, Father Rory was keen to put the two churches of St Wilfrid’s and St George’s on the map and to that end, in order to bring the two into the modern day, Father Rory commissioned a company to build a web site which is now up and running and growing fast.  It has very good reviews and we are proud of it.

September 2009.

On Sunday, September 27, 2009, the combined parishes of Saints George and Wilfrid, funded entirely by parishioners subscriptions, threw a party in honour of Father Rory’s 60^th birthday, at the Hailsham Community Centre Vicarage Lane. It  was attended by around two hundred and fifty people.  Tributes were paid by old and dear friends and members from his previous parishes.  A full buffet was laid on, prepared by, and served by a team of ladies of the parish, and we were entertained by a group of Irish Girl Dancers and music was played by a three piece Irish Folk band; Flash Company.