Archdeacon Kevin Donnelly was ordained on 18 June 1950.  His first posting was to the Nazareth Lodge children’s home on the Ormeau Road, Belfast and then in 1953 he became the first full time Chaplain at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

In 1957 he moved to Glenarm as curate and on to Ballymena in 1965.  He moved to St John’s and Corpus Christi, Ballymurphy, in Belfast, in 1972.

In 1978 he moved the short distance to the Holy Trinity parish in Turf Lodge to become Parish Priest.  He then moved to Loughguile in 1985 and remained there until 1997.

In 1997 he retired as a parish priest and volunteered to come to Ballymena as a curate, or Pastor Emeritus.

He became a Canon in 1994 and an Archdeacon in 2001.