He joined the Franciscans, taking the name "John Evangelist", and spent a year in the novitiate in Killarney, before proceeding to the Irish St Anthony's College, Leuven (Louvain), Belgium, where he obtained his doctorate in philosophy.
He continued his studies in Rome, living at the St. Isidore's College and obtaining his doctor of divinity degree from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
He served as provincial of the Irish Franciscans from 1942 to 1949[2] and founded the House of Studies in Killiney, Dublin, in 1945.
[5] He received his episcopal consecration on 25 July from Archbishop John Charles McQuaid[1] and was installed in Kokstad on 29 September.
He retired in June 1978[6] and he was succeeded by the Irish-trained franciscan future cardinal Wilfrid Napier.