Nothern Ireland church leaders mourn Patrick Walsh - Catholic bishop and mathematical prodigy who helped run St Malachy's school

He was bishop of the diocese – which covers the eastern flank of Ulster, including Belfast – from 1991 until 2008.

He also served as Queen’s University Catholic chaplain from 1964 to 1970, president of Saint Malachy’s College in Belfast from 1970 to 1983, and also chaired Northern Ireland’s Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS).

Bishop Walsh earned a Bachelor’s Degree in mathematics from Queen’s, and then a Master’s Degree in mathematics from Christ’s College at the University of Cambridge.

His funeral in St Peter’s Cathedral, west Belfast, was at noon today, and was taken by the Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown.

Among the other church leaders present were Archdeacon Mark Harvey, Bishop Harold Miller, and Bishop George Davison of the Church of Ireland, and Dr Heather Morris, general secretary of the Methodist Church in Ireland.

(As for the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, neither the moderator nor the clerk were able to attend, but sent their sympathies and apologies.)

Bishop McKeown’s written address to mourners recalled that the Co Cork native “had been born the third of four children [in 1931], nine years after the border in Ireland was created”.

“Arriving in Northern Ireland [at age 11] must have seemed like coming to an alien land for he had a different accent and few local connections,” said Bishop McKeown.

"But people of faith try to flourish where they are planted…

"All a person can do is to seek God’s guidance in prayer, grasp the nettles and trust that in all things God is working for our salvation, even when we get things wrong.

"For him, that meant trying to make sense of the early student demonstrations in the late '60s, leading a large school when Belfast descended into chaos in the '70s – and then having to accept the awful truth that some of his ordained colleagues were capable of serial sexual abuse of children...

"The one lesson that we learn from Mary and Joseph, the shepherd and the Magi, Simeon and Anna is that God is in the mess, in the wilderness more than in the transient glory of Temple.

"Those who seek Him only in success, and among the strong, will fail to see Him where He lies hidden.”

He added that “Bishop Patrick knew that his own death was approaching” and “accepted his growing debility with patience”.

He concluded: “Those who have glimpsed God’s grandeur know that we come before the Lord with empty hands, conscious of our sinfulness but with a yearning heart, trusting that our guilt will be forgiven, and we shall see Him face-to-face.

"We commend Bishop Patrick to God. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.”

He had died aged 92 in a Belfast care home on December 28.

He was interred in the Chapel of the Resurrection of the Cathedral.