Our Catholic priests

How our priests began in Greenwich

From Christmas 1792, Fr John Taylor was paying the rent for No.13 Clarks Buildings, from where he oversaw the construction of the first post-reformation chapel in Greenwich. The buildings lay at the end of the gardens of the houses of Park Vista, East Greenwich.

Number 13 remained the residence for priests until 1845, when Fr Richard North moved into 68 Crooms Hill. At this time, he was making preparations for the erection of our present church. By 1856, the presbytery was moved into 66 Crooms Hill, before the priests moved back into 68 Crooms Hill in 1977. It remains their home today, though now it’s usually only one priest. Number 66 Crooms Hill was the Ursuline Convent for many years until the nuns moved out in 2023. We still have the Dominican nuns along the footpath, past the school and onto Hyde Vale.

From 1851, the senior priest of the parish was known as the Rector. It was not until 1918 that ‘missions’ gave way to parishes, and the title Parish Priest was in everyday use.

The following list gives the names and the dates of residence of all the senior priests who are known to have been assigned to Our Ladye Star of the Sea. They are taken from the Catholic Directory, with the research carried out by Michael Egan and updated for this website for up to the present day. Assistant priests are not named here as there were so many, (except for one more recent who supported Monsignor Farrell in his old age). The often large number of them are noted, as it is very different to the number of priests in the parish nowadays. Though they may not of all been assisting at the same time! In 1827 Fr North was at St Mary's chapel until 1851 when he continued on at Crooms Hill.

At the Church of Our Ladye Star of the Sea

1851-1860 Canon Richard North

Responsible for the building of Our Ladye Star of the Sea and Priest from 1851-1860. While here, he was Rural Dean for Kent. He remained here until his death in 1860. His body lays in Our Ladye Star of the Sea and his memorial monument is the image above. There were six assistant priests at various times during Fr Richard North’s time.

1860-1885 Canon Joseph North

Younger brother of Richard North. Was mission priest at Deptford and then priest at Greenwich from 1860-1885, after death of R North. Canon in 1864, also Rural Dean. His body also lays at Our Ladye Star of the Sea. There were two assistant priests during Canon Joseph’s time, one of whom was Fr Michael O’Halloran who went on to become a Canon.

1885-1921 Fr Michael O’Halloran

Served at Our Ladye Star of the Sea as Assistant to Canon Joseph North from 1860. He then became the rector from 1885 and served here for a total of 61 years. There is a Cenotaph in the sacred heart chapel for Canon O’Halloran. He had 16 Assistant priests during his very long time at Our Lady Star of the Sea, including Fr John Sheen from 1920 to 1921, and supervised the restoration of 1901.

1921-1937 Fr John Sheen

Became Canon Sheen in 1921 and had eight Assistant priests. There is a window in the sacred heart chapel and a plaque in the tower for him.

1937-1945 Fr Joseph Patrick Redmond

Four Assistant priests.

1946-1977 Fr John J Farrell

Rt Rev Monsignor 1952 and was the Rural Dean. He had seven Assistant priests. The restoration of 1965 was to mark his Golden Jubilee and he has a plaque at the church entrance.

Supported in latter years by Fr William K McCarthy from 1970-1977 who is still remembered fondly by parishioners.

1977-1990 Fr Martin Murphy

Formerly of Carrigadaggin, Newbawn, Co Wexford, he died in May 2013.

1990-1991 Dr James Tolhurst

Only stayed for a year.

1991-2011 Fr John Lavery

Fr John Lavery was born and grew up in Portadown, Northern Ireland. He attended St Patrick’s College in Armagh before studying for the priesthood at All Hallows College in Dublin. After ordination in 1960, Fr John came to the Archdiocese of Southwark and was assigned to St Agatha’s parish in Kingston-upon-Thames.

Nine years later he was assigned as assistant priest to St Thomas More in Dulwich and then as parish priest in Kidbrooke, Wandsworth West and Kingston-upon-Thames.

In 1991, he arrived at Our Ladye Star of the Sea, Greenwich, where he served for 20 years as parish priest until 2011.

Fr John was a dedicated priest who built strong connections in this parish. He took time to greet everyone personally after Sunday Mass. He offered unwavering support to the Dominican and Ursuline sisters nearby and to the leadership team at St Ursula’s Convent School.

Students benefited from Mass at key times in their lives and his interest in their studies. Fr John still inspires the First Communion programme here.

For many years, he served on the Archdiocese Marriage Tribunal. He had a strong commitment to the poor and built strong connections between Our Ladye Star of the Sea and CAFOD, the Catholic international development charity. During his time here, Fr John was commended for his leadership which brought the charity contributions of almost £140,000.

He quietly worked away on the restoration needs of our church, including a new roof and significant repairs to the steeple. And he was proud of his association with the Naval College.

Above all, Fr John was a man of great faith who believed God is always with us and close to us. He will be remembered for his kindness, humour and patience. He was generous with his time, encouragement and wisdom. He led by example and with humility, living his faith and sharing his sense of how much we are known and loved by God.

Fr John retired to Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland and died there in July 2017.

Fr John Lavery re-erects the cross on top of the spire 2007

2011-2025 Fr Kevin Robinson

Fr Kevin Robinson, a former Anglican priest came to Our Ladye Star of the Sea in 2011.

He has brought many new people into the Catholic faith, and the parish have welcomed the contributions to parish life from Fr Kevin, his wife and their two daughters, being at the heart of social events and providing support for families in need or in crisis. He has a love of singing and has encouraged evenings of beautiful sacred music in the church.

Fr Kevin kept church services running through the Covid pandemic, putting masses online to keep the community together through those difficult times. It was to his credit that after; congregations had not only been maintained but had grown in number, with full churches and many new and often younger faces.

Fr Kevin joked about being a “priest on a bike”, as for a number of years he had to serve two parishes, St Joseph’s as well as Our Ladye Star of the Sea, and had to race between the two churches on Sunday mornings.

He did much to revitalise St Joseph’s and restored the church and its facilities to good health, before it returned to having its own priests in 2023.

Fr Kevin has made many practical improvements, including refurbishing and restoring the parish rooms and the sacristy and other repairs such as the historic lamp holder over the gateway at Our Ladye Star of the Sea.

He has brought the sacraments of Reconciliation and First Communion to life for the children, answering all their questions with humour and thoughtfulness while encouraging curiosity about their faith.

The current restoration project was launched during his time as priest, in September 2023. He retires this September.