A former Manchester United and Northern Ireland footballer has swapped his kit for a cassock after being ordained a priest today.
Thirty nine year old Father Philip Mulryne signed a four-year professional deal in 1994 after being spotted by scouts and joining the Youth Academy.
Making his debut in 1997 against Ipswich Town Football Club, Philip played five times in total for the first team before he left to join Norwich City for a fee of E565,000 in 1999.
He spent six years at the club, making 161 appearances and scoring 18 goals.
He retired from football in 2009 and spent two years studying philosophy at Queens University Belfast and at the Maryvale Institute before going to the Pontifical Irish College, Rome, to study theology for one year at the Gregorian University.
He entered the Dominican Novitiate House in Cork in 2012.
Father Philip Father was ordained by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, OP in St Saviour’s Church, Dominick Street, Dublin at a ceremony on Saturday morning attended by family and friends.
