Timothy Leonard

Fr. Timothy Leonard was an Irish priest from Ballysimon, County Limerick. He went as part of the first group of priests from the Maynooth Mission to China in 1920 and he was killed by Communists in July 1929. He was the first Columban Father to be killed on mission.

Early life Timothy Leonard was born in July 1893 to William (a farmer) and his wife Maryanne Leonard, in the parish of Killmurray, Killronan, Ballysimon, County Limerick. He attended Monaleen National School and later became a boarder at St Munchin's College in Limerick. Leonard studied in Maynooth College and was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Limerick in 1918. Two of his brothers, Joseph and William, also became priests. his body was found on 18 July.