Educated at Trinity College, Dublin,[2] he was made deacon on Trinity Sunday 1954 (13 June)[3] and ordained priest the following Trinity Sunday (5 June 1955) — both times by Noel Hudson, Bishop of Newcastle, at Newcastle Cathedral.
From 1968 to 1976 he was a producer and broadcaster for BBC religious broadcasting at Manchester, which included a TV Songs of Praise from Blackburn Cathedral,[6] whose diocese he would later serve as bishop.
In 1976 he was ordained to the episcopate, first serving as suffragan Bishop of Doncaster.
[8] Then in 1982 he was appointed diocesan Bishop of Blackburn, serving until his premature death from cancer in 1989.
He is today perhaps best known for his hymn "Father, Lord of all creation", published in several English-language hymnbooks.