Becoming men of character…
The Irish Forge is a group of Irish men (clergy and laity) dedicated to encouraging the men of Ireland to assume their Christian responsibility to become men of virtue. Since virtue empowers us to attain what is truly good, with stability, surety, readiness, and ease, virtue is what we most need to become the men God created us to become.
The Irish Forge seeks to realize this aim by gathering men together for prayer, fraternity, mutual support, and courses in formation. We have received a great heritage in the Irish and Western tradition, a heritage that capacitates us to understand our role in the world, while encouraging us to assume this role with courage and responsibility.
It is the responsibility of each and every man to receive and adopt this heritage, to make it part of himself—his ‘flesh and blood’ so to speak—and to be prepared to pass on its wealth to the next generation, to all those entrusted to our care as men, as husbands and fathers, as contributors to the people of Ireland.
In this way, it is our hope to live up to the proverb of Sacred Scripture:
‘As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another.’
(Prov. 27:17)
The facilitator of the course is Dr. Robert McNamara.
Robert is lecturer in philosophy and department head at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University, Ireland, associate professor of philosophy at Franciscan University of Steubenville, USA, while also tutoring periodically at the ITI Catholic University, Austria, and the Maryvale Institute, England. Robert is an associate series editor of Edith Stein Studies, an associate scholar of the Hildebrand Project, a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Man and Woman,and a founding member of the Aquinas Institute of Ireland (currently suspended).
Having studied physics, computing, philosophy, and theology, Robert brings a multidisciplinary approach to his work while exploring anthropological and metaphysical themes in ancient, medieval, and phenomenological thinkers, with a defined focus on philosophical personalism in the Christian tradition. He currently resides in Carlow, Ireland, with his wife, Caroline, and their five children.
The priest overseeing the spiritual life of the formation course is Fr. Mark Quinn.
A native of Castlebar, Co. Mayo, Fr Mark Quinn was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Tuam by Archbishop Francis Duffy, in the Church of the Holy Rosary, Castlebar on Sunday, July 7 of last year.
Before nourishing souls, Fr Mark Quinn nourished hungry diners as he plied his trade cheffing for many…
Fr. Mark is currently a curate of the parish of Tuam in the archdiocese of Tuam.
