Brother Walfrid
| Brother Walfrid | |
|---|---|
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Brother Walfrid
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| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
| Order | Marist Brothers |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Born | Andrew Kerins 18 May 1840 Ballymote, County Sligo |
| Died | 17 April 1915 (aged 74) Dumfries |
| Resting place | Mount St. Michael Cemetery |
Andrew Kerins (Irish: Aindreas Ó Céirín; 18 May 1840 – 17 April 1915), known by his religious name Brother Walfrid, was an Irish Marist Brother and the founder of Celtic Football Club.
Walfrid was born of John Kerins and Elizabeth Flynn in Ballymote, a village in south County Sligo in north west Ireland. His ancestors, the Ó Céirín (later anglicised as "Kerins"), were anciently Gaelic lords of Ciarraige Locha na nÁirne, with a long history in Mayo.
He studied teaching and in 1864 joined The Marist Brothers Teaching Order. He moved to Scotland in the 1870s and taught at St. Marys School and the Sacred Heart School where he was appointed headmaster in 1874. He also helped found St. Joseph's College, Dumfries.
In 1888, he founded The Celtic Football Club as a means of raising funds for the poor and deprived in the east end of Glasgow. In 1893 Walfrid was sent by his religious order to London's East End. Here he continued his work, organizing football matches for and showing great kindness to the barefoot children in the districts of Bethnal Green and Bow. The charity established by Walfrid was named The Poor Children's Dinner Table.
He died on 17 April 1915, leaving a surviving brother, Bernard, in Cloghboley, County Sligo. Walfrid is buried in the Mount St. Michael Cemetery in Dumfries.
A commemorative sculpture of Walfrid was erected outside Celtic Park on 5 November 2005.
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Wikipedia