Rest and Be Thankful: Autobiography of a Belfast Missionary

In 1922 Belfast-born Dan Cummings left home three days after his 15th birthday to begin a Juniorate at a Redemptorist College in Limerick. He was not to live at home again. Years later he was persuaded by his then ten year old niece to ‘write his life story’.

This is his personal account of a fascinating life, from a young lad in troubled Belfast, to missionary in the Philippines. Later, in wartime Europe, he served as an army chaplain, was involved in the D-Day landings and was there to see Belsen concentration camp liberated.

On his return to Ireland his work included Professor of Scripture in Galway, Superior in Limerick and Prefect of the Church in Dundalk. As Director of the Belfast Clonard Confraternity and Missions for non-Catholics, his innovative ecumenical work sparked intense interest from his adversary – a young Ian Paisley.

Rest and Be Thankful is meticulously observed and recorded with forthright honesty. He finished writing in 1970 and died seven years later. At his request, the manuscript remained unpublished until now, having been entrusted to the same niece who had persuaded him to put pen to paper decades earlier.