Fr. Sean has become an integral member in the lives of his parishioners, at St. Patrick's Church, in Bay Shore, as well as in the lives of parishioners he has served in three previous parishes. His innate sense of piety, compassion and humor resonate with everyone with whom he meets. For many years, he has served as Chaplain to the Suffolk County Police Emerald Society, as chaplain to the Suffolk County Police Pipe Band, the Knights of Columbus, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and the Catholic Daughters of the Americas.
Fr. Sean's mother, Mary (nee Ryan) Gann, emigrated to America from St. Mullins, County Carlow, Ireland at the age of twelve, to live with a maternal aunt in Kings Park, NY, where she attended St. Joseph's Parochial School. Like so many other Irish émigrés in Kings Park, she went to work at the Kings Park Psychiatric Hospital. Fr. Sean, born in 1964, was baptized at St. Joseph's Church. After the family moved to Centereach, he graduated from Centereach High School, later attending Johnson and Wales University. During his formative years, Fr. Sean had always felt the desire to be a priest, and so he entered the College Seminary in Douglaston, Queens in 1985. Upon graduation, he continued his studies at the Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, NY. From the original twenty-one men who entered in 1985, Fr. Sean was the only one of that original group to be ordained nine years later.
Fr. Sean was ordained by Bishop John R. McGann, at St. Agnes Cathedral, in Rockville Centre in 1994. He was assigned to St. Lawrence the Martyr parish in Sayville, where he served for five very rewarding years. In 1999, Fr. Sean was transferred to Christ the King parish, in Commack, serving it's parishioners for nine happy years, before being appointed pastor of St. Joseph's Church, in Kings Park, in June of 2008. Ironically, Fr. Sean's installation as pastor was officiated by Msgr. T. Peter Ryan, the same priest who had baptized Fr. Sean at St. Joseph's forty-four years earlier! In April of 2019, Bishop John Barres appointed Fr. Sean as Pastor of St Patrick in Bay Shore where he has been happily serving the people of the South Shore.
The Suffolk County Police Emerald Society selected Fr. Sean as their "2013 Irishman of the Year," whereby he was honored by leading the members of the Emerald Society in the New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade. Recently, Fr. Sean was a recipient of the "John Barry Medal," presented by the Ancient Order of Hibernians Kevin Barry Division 3, Smithtown, in recognition of his support and fidelity to the AOH.
Written by Kelly McCarthy
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