‘Hugs to your mom’

Benefit concert with Irish singing priest Fr. Ray Kelly raises funds for two charities

By Tami S. Scott
Editor

When the Jennings family traveled to Ireland in August 2018, mom Elizabeth “Bette” Young Jennings got a turn up for the books. She met Father Ray Kelly, the Irish singing priest, known worldwide for his viral YouTube video of him singing at a wedding he officiated. He is also known for his appearances as a contestant on “Britain’s Got Talent” and the Irish edition of “Dancing with the Stars.”

“My dad was on YouTube one day and called [my mom] into the computer room to watch this video that he had seen, of a priest in Ireland singing Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ for a wedding,” daughter Meghan Jennings explained. “And she was hooked.

“Her father was a funeral director, so she grew up around priests and just felt very comfortable around them,” Meghan continued. “[She] always loved music and she always loved her Irish heritage, so a singing priest from Ireland was like the trifecta.”

Once the driver, PJ, whom the family hired during their stay in the Emerald Isle, knew what a fan Bette was of Father Ray, he researched where the singing priest would be saying Mass and brought them to his then-church in Oldcastle, County Meath.

“Nobody told Mom — it was supposed to be a surprise — but when we pulled in the driveway, we saw Father Ray walking from his rectory over to the church,” Meghan said. “Mom got so excited.” After Mass, Father welcomed his new American friends to his house for tea. Bette, so full of joy, skipped over to the rectory.

“It was a great afternoon. It wasn’t anything he had to do. He’s just a really nice man,” Meghan remembered fondly. “When you talked to my mother after that trip, any of the other things we did … it was as though they didn’t happen.”

“We had a great chat,” Father Ray recalled. “She loved Ireland. Her heritage was very much Irish, and it was like she was back home again.”

Lasting memories

When in Ireland, Bette had already been diagnosed with early stages of dementia. Upon returning home, her symptoms became progressively worse. In 2021, she was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. She died on Nov. 5, 2022.

During her last weeks in the hospital, Meghan would show her mom videos of Fr. Ray singing as well as pictures from their time in Ireland, and “it would just transform her for a little bit … her face would light up and it’d be almost as though she wasn’t sick at all,” Meghan said. “So I reached out to him, to thank him so much for what he had done for her, and to let him know that those memories — she didn’t have a lot of newer memories that were sticking — but those memories were so special and impactful for her, and he would write back and say, ‘Hugs to your mom, tell her I said hello.’”

And that would make her face light up all over again, Meghan told The Catholic Sun.

After her mother died, Meghan wrote a book, “The Year I Lost My Mom: A Journey of Love, Grief, & Rediscovery.” She sent a copy to Fr. Ray around Christmastime last year. He emailed her a few months later after he had completed the book. “And, you know, sometimes as a priest, you don’t get feedback about what kind of impact you have on people,” Meghan said. “So he said thank you for giving me that.”

At that time, he was also planning a US tour for this fall and asked Meghan if she was interested in staging a concert in her mom’s memory, with proceeds going to whatever charity was dearest to her heart.

Benefit concert in Fulton

More than 200 people flocked to the Church of the Holy Trinity in Fulton on Aug. 24 — with some traveling from as far as Utica and the Thousand Islands.

“It was absolutely beautiful,” said Father Joseph Scardella, parish pastor, speaking of the event. “[Fr. Ray] had us laughing, he had us crying. He had us standing on our feet and clapping. It was just an experience.”

“Just as easily as he can bring tears, he can bring laughter,” Meghan added. “He’s a very charming man.”

Father Ray played for two hours with just one 15-minute break. Baskets were raffled off in the meantime.

Two photos of Bette were placed on either side of Fr. Ray during the concert — one of Bette alone and one of Bette and Fr. Ray from 2018 in Ireland. When singing a Vince Gill song, “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” which the family played a recorded version of Fr. Ray singing at Bette’s funeral, Fr. Ray recalled walking over to one of the photographs. “I felt like I was singing that song to her, like she was connected and her spirit was there,” he said. “Even though I had only met [the family] once, I felt very close to them the night of the concert.”

The benefit raised almost $3,200. Funds will be split between the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance and the Dementia Society of America. If you would like to donate in memory of Bette Jennings, please follow the links below:

For the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance:

https://tribute.ocrahope.org/elizabeth-young-jennings

For the Dementia Society of America:

https://dementiasociety.charityproud.org/donate?inMemoryOf=Elizabeth%20Jennings