Brother Walfrid

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Brother Walfrid

Brother Walfrid (May 18, 1840 - April 17, 1915) is the religious name of Andrew Kearns, an Irish Marist Brother and founder of Celtic Football Club. Brother Walfrid was born Andrew Kearns on the 18th May 1840 the son of John Kearns and Elizabeth Flynn in Ballymote, a village in south County Sligo in northwest Ireland. He studied teaching and in 1864 joined The Marist Brothers Teaching Order. He moved to Scotland in the 1870's and taught at St. Marys School and the Sacred Heart School where he was appointed headmaster in 1874. In 1887, he founded The Celtic Football Club. as a means of raising funds for the poor and deprived in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland. In 1893, Brother Walfrid was sent by his religious order to London's East End. Here he continued his good works, organizing football matches for the barefoot children in the districts of Bethnal Green and Bow.

He died on April 17, 1915, leaving a surviving brother, Bernard, in Cloghboley, County Sligo. Kearns is buried in the Mount St. Michael Cemetery.

Commemorative sculpture in Ballymote

Brother Walfrid sculpture at Celtic Park.

A commemorative sculpture of Brother Walfrid was erected outside Celtic Park on 5th November 2005. The 3m20cm high sculpture was constructed in bronze and granite, funded entirely through fans' contributions and gifted to the Club. Funding for the sculpture was organised through the Brother Walfrid Committee, chaired by Eddie Toner. The sculpture was made by Kate Robinson.

The Veil for unveiling ceremony was made through workshops in fourteen schools and community centres throughout Glasgow. Funded by Sense Over Sectarianism, artists worked with young people to create drawings of footballers and football strips which were digitally printed onto the Veil itself. The unveiling ceremony was attended by several thousand fans, footballers,the Archbishop of Glasgow and many others. New music for the ceremony was composed by James MacMillan.

A further sculpture of Brother Walfrid, commemorating his links with his home town of Ballymote, was unveiled in the public park there in 2005.