Retiring Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown is ready for new chapter

The outgoing Catholic Bishop of Derry believes one of the biggest challenges of retirement will be getting used to his phone “not ringing so often”.

Donal McKeown has spent the past quarter of a century as a bishop, but on Sunday he will say his final Mass as head of the diocese after 12 years.

Bishop Michael Router will then be installed at St Eugene’s Cathedral.

As he prepares to retire, Bishop McKeown has been reflecting on being part of being part of important moments in history and as well as being stopped on the street for confessions.

Ordained in his native Randalstown, County Antrim, in 1977, McKeown became Bishop of Down and Connor in 2001 and Bishop of Derry in 2014.

He has become one of the best-known faces of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

At the age of 76, McKeown is now preparing for a life away from being a church leader.

“A bishop friend who retired told me it took three years for the tiredness to leave his body,” McKeown told BBC Radio Foyle’s North West Today programme.

“I am ready to start adjusting to a new way of life.

“As bishop, my day is full of meetings, events, a lot of timings and places I need to be.

“Retirement does bring with it a relief not to be in charge anymore, but I also now have to get a sense of who I am away from being in a position of leadership.”