Fr. John Foster SDB

Tel. (01) 465 0714 

Born, bred, and reared in Ballykelly, near Monasterevin in Co. Kildare and at one time, President of Ballykelly GAA Football Club.

A Salesian since 1948 after training in England he spent five years in Hong Kong where he spent a brief time studying Cantonese and four years teaching. At the end of that period he returned to England for Theology and other studies. He was ordained in 1958 and returned to Hong Kong immediately, living the following fifteen years there.  Besides teaching English and History at school certificate level, he was rector and principal of St. Louis School, one of the biggest secondary scholls in the territory.  He graced the chair of the Catholic Education Counci, was Treasurer of the Association of Headmasters, a member of the Hong Kong school certificate Syndicate and a member of the Board of Control. Weekends were spent offering service to American servicemen on rest and recreation. John returned to Ireland in 1973 for health reasons and in September 1975, took up residence in Crumlin as a curate in St Agnes. In September 1990 he was transferred to Salesian Agrictultural and Horticultural College as Rector and Principal of the Agricultural College. In september 1996 he returned to Crumlin, again as a curate in St Agnes's and Rector of Salesian House. He retired as Rector in spetember 2000 and since then he have been, as he describes himself, "just a poor simplec curate."