The Very Rev Andrew Canon Monaghan died peacefully last night (Wednesday 3 April) in the care of family members after a short illness. He was 82.

Andrew Monaghan was born on 1^st December 1941 the second of four boys, living at 3 Kirk Road; school in Bathgate till the age of eleven;

He attended St Mary’s Primary and St Mary’s Academy in Bathgate before continuing his studies at the junior seminary at Blairs at the age of eleven (1954-1958).

He was only 16 when he was accepted to study for the priesthood at St Andrew’s College in Drygrange where he spent six years (1958-1964) and was 22 years old when he was ordained to the priesthood at St Mary’s, Bathgate, on 25 July 1964.

The first parish Canon Monaghan served was St Francis Xavier’s in Falkirk where he spent nine years, before moving to St Cuthbert’s in Edinburgh (1973-1975).

During his years in Falkirk, he helped to set up a branch of the national Catholic marriage counselling agency - the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council (CMAC).

He had a great love for music; when he was in the Western General shortly before his death he received a card from a choir member at St Francis Xavier’s, who wrote that the choir still had some of the original members from when Andrew, as a curate, had started it, before concluding: “Thank you, from us all for instilling in us a love and passion for hymns and church music, during your time with us. We shall always be grateful for you.”

He also served as chaplain to the Sacred Heart Convent in Dalkeith from 1975 to 1985 and then as chaplain to St Joseph’s Hospital in Rosewell from 1985 to 1999.

His final parish before retirement was at St Mary’s in Pathhead (1999-2017).

For many years, Canon Monaghan hosted Open Line, a phone-in show on Radio Forth and also presented View from Earth, a weekly religious affairs discussion programme.

Both of them ran for over thirty years on Radio Forth, winning many broadcasting awards and his voice became familiar to many people across Edinburgh, Fife and The Lothians.

He was a lecturer and chaplain at Craiglockhart College in Edinburgh in the 1970s and 1980s and also worked as a part-time lecturer at St Andrew's College, Glasgow, until the early 2000s.

The Very Rev Andrew Canon Monaghan died peacefully on Wednesday 3 April 2024 in the care of family members after a short illness. He was 82.

The Requiem Mass took place on Monday 15 April at St Mary's Church, Bathgate. May he rest in peace.

The Very Rev Andrew Canon Monaghan, 1 December 1941 – 3 April 2024.