SEAN FREYNE (1935-2013)

Mould-breaking Scholar with a Traditional Allegiance

Student 1953-60

Professor of Scripture 1974-78

 

Sean Freyne might lay claim to be the ultimate mould-breaker in the history of Maynooth College and perhaps even of the Catholic Church in Ireland. He came from a resolutely traditional environment, and even though he lost his father at the age of four, he maintained virtually every one of the marks of a proud Mayoman until his death. His stellar academic achievements at Maynooth, his early interaction with the universal church of Vatican II while doing postgraduate work in Rome, and then his entry into the International networks of Scripture scholars from his position as Professor of Scripture at Maynooth from 1974, all established him as a force to be reckoned with in the post-Conciliar scene. His leaving of the priesthood, and his eventual emergence in 1981 as the first holder of the position of Professor of Non-Denominational Theology at Trinity College, Dublin all sent shock waves through the clerical establishment. Yet he maintained his connections with classmates, colleagues and former students from his Maynooth days, adding them to a truly spectacular range of associates and friends on every continent. His friend J. Andrew Overman of Macalester College, Minnesota, whose work on the third temple of Herod at Omrit made him a household name in Scripture and archaeological studies, wrote a fine appreciation of him which we attach here.