TURNING POINTS: Fr. Jim Doyle – The Irish Chaplain to Paris

In this episode of Turning Points, Patricia Killeen met Fr. Jim Doyle, the current Irish Chaplain to Paris, in the Chapelle Saint-Patrick on Rue des Irlandais in the 5th arrondissement.

Jim studied civil engineering in Galway, Ireland, graduating in 1994. He then worked as a site engineer with SISK in Limerick for over two years before his first major turning point: joining CONCERN, a well-known NGO. Between 1996 and 1999, he volunteered with CONCERN on schools, roads, and water projects in Cambodia and Burundi. 

A second major life-changing event occurred in Burundi when he felt the calling to be a priest. After leaving Africa, he embarked on philosophy studies in the seminary of Ars sur Formans near Lyon. He subsequently studied theology at St. Patrick’s College in Maynooth, Ireland and was ordained a priest in 2006. He ministered in Wexford, in the diocese of Ferns, until 2022, when he was appointed chaplain to the Irish community in Paris.  

The Doyle family’s story is unique in 21st-century Ireland. Jim is a civil engineer, and his younger twin brothers have doctorates in engineering; today, all three are priests. Jim also chatted about his chaplaincy work, which can be very varied, ranging from baptismal and marriage preparation to prison and hospital visitation and celebrating the weekly 11.30 am Sunday Mass. 

The Irish Catholic church has been present in the Latin Quarter for over 400 years. Since 1770, it has been based at 5 rue des Irlandais, which houses the Chapelle Saint-Patrick and the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Ireland’s flagship cultural centre abroad. 

The Chapelle Saint-Patrick is a centre of worship and pastoral outreach to the Irish in Paris. It also welcomes many ex-pats living in Paris and tourists wishing to attend Mass in English.