Jeremiah Dermot O'Connell, MFR (September 1, 1935 – March 14, 2018) was a Catholic Priest, educator, and administrator, recognized as the longest serving school principal in Nigeria.
Subsequently, he pursued theological studies with the Kiltegan Fathers, culminating in his ordination as a priest on Easter Sunday, April 2, 1961, at St Mary's Church, Killamoat.
[2] After his ordination in 1961, O'Connell arrived Nigeria and commenced his service working in the Diocese of Calabar as a missionary of the Order of St. Patrick, the patron Saint of Ireland.
He worked at St Columbanus Secondary School, Ikwen in Calabar before taking up an appointment to the Prefecture of Minna in 1963.
Initially teaching at St Malachy's Teacher Training College, he moved to Fatima Co-ed Secondary School (later renamed Government Secondary School and currently known as Fr O'Connell Science College Minna), where he remained until his departure from Nigeria in April 2017.