Brendan was born in Skibereen, County Cork, on Saturday 3rd December 1927 and baptised the following day in what is now St Patrick's Cathedral. He was the sixth child of Edward, an engineer, and Lucy McGuinness, with five brothers and three sisters. The family moved to Drimnagh in Dublin and from the age of eleven, Brendan attended the Christian Brothers' school in Westland Road. The Headmaster wrote that 'He belongs to a very respectable family and bears an excellent character.' When he completed his secondary education in the summer of 1946, Brendan went to County Wicklow to try his vocation with the Kiltegan Fathers. He had hoped to train as a missionary to work in Nigeria, but the superior considered that his temperament made him 'unsuitable for life in the tropics'.

From 1948 to 1950, Brendan attended Trinity College Dublin, but he held on to his dream of becoming a priest. He kept up contact with the Kiltegan Fathers and also worked at the Don Bosco Boys' Club in Drimnagh, developing a choir which reached a high standard. Brendan's first real contact with the Salesians came when he took his choir for a holiday to Ballinakill, the Salesian aspirantate in County Laois.

In August 1950, the Kiltegan superior, Fr Plunkett, wrote to Fr Molloy, Salesian Rector at Ballinakill. 'I would like to see him given another trial. His experiences of life in the world over the past few years, I'm sure, have helped to give him balance. He has a good job and wants for nothing, which would forward the view that his vocation may be really genuine. He has good average ability and I found him very sincere and frank in all his dealings with me. There could be no questioning of his good dispositions.' Fr Molloy asked for a reference from Fr Delaney, Parish Priest in Drimnagh. He replied, 'May I say that he is a very excellent young man and leads a most exemplary life - spending most of his spare time in 'Catholic Action' work. He gives a good deal of his time and earnest attention to his work in the Don Bosco club [ ... ] Personally, I believe that he would make a good religious and I think that he has a genuine vocation, but the human mind can be misled. He will be a loss to us here, if and when he goes away.'

Brendan entered the Salesian House in Ballinakill on 22nd September 1950, at the age of 22. The following year he went to the novitiate in Burwash, where he was given responsibility for the linen room, and he made his first profession on 8th September 1952. After two years of philosophy at lngersley Hall, Br Brendan went back to Ireland for his practical training: two years teaching in the Salesian School in Pallaskenry and one in Ballinakill. He returned to England for his theological studies at Melchet Court and was ordained to the priesthood there on Sunday 2nd July 1961. As was usual at the time, he spent a year in post-ordination studies at Shrigley, before returning to Dublin to further his professional qualifications.

There followed an extended period of teaching in Salesian Schools: three years in Cowley, where he also ran a scout group, and ten years in Farnborough. Fr Brendan was much appreciated as a teacher of mathematics and music. In Farnborough he was specially noted for his large­scale choral productions, including Handel's Messiah and Haydn's Creation. He contacted the Royal Academy of Music in London and invited talented students from there to sing the solo parts. Among these was Felicity Lott, now Dame Felicity Lott, who went on to become a world-renowned opera singer. Fr Brendan was also in demand as a music critic and wrote regular reviews of concerts in the area.

In 1979, now in his early fifties, Fr Brendan was asked to take on the role of Vocations Director, based successively in Glasgow, Shrigley, Cowley and Farnborough. These were years of much travelling, visiting individuals and families all over the country and working together with his counterparts in other religious orders. His friendliness, sense of humour and remarkable memory for faces, names and stories were exercised to the full. Although his efforts were not met with corresponding 'success' in the form of new Salesians, he was never worried by what he called 'the numbers game'.

In 1988, the centenary of the death of Don Bosco, Fr Brendan went to Berkeley, California, for a sabbatical focussed on Salesian Spirituality. In September of the following year, he took up a new post as Chaplain in Salesian College Farnborough. His natural qualities fitted him perfectly for this role. He built up lasting friendships with students and staff alike, always available, sharing their joys and sorrows. His first Chaplaincy room was in the old Essex House, which had French windows opening onto the playground, making it easy for students to call in. In 1998 he moved to what had been the Staff Room and is now the Don Bosco Centre. The Chapel was reconfigured and refurbished in 2008. The Chaplaincy was open for all who needed a quiet, informal setting, where they could relax with their friends and benefit from Fr Brendan's fatherly presence. He also welcomed groups from each form during class time to reinforce parts of the RE syllabus, or simply to discuss what was on their minds.

In November 2011, the Provincial at the time, Fr Martin Coyle, blessed the foundation stone of a splendid new Music building. It bears a quote from John Milton: 'Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie.' The Headmaster, Mr Patrick Wilson, dedicated the building to Fr Brendan, naming it the McGuinness Music School. It was officially opened in March 2013 by his old friend, Dame Felicity Lott.

In 2012, at the age of 85, Fr Brendan stepped down from Chaplain to Assistant Chaplain, continuing to spend time in the College each day and supporting his successor. He was especially glad to meet past pupils returning to the College. On his retirement in April 2014, the Chair of Governors highlighted the great compassion and support Fr Brendan had provided when staff or students had been going through difficult times. After receiving gifts, including a computer, Fr Brendan reflected on the way that he in turn had been evangelised by the students who came to the Chaplaincy during break times.

He remained active, attending College events, conducting funerals and other services, and visiting relatives in Ireland. He presided at the College celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 2017, soon after celebrating his 90th birthday. The College laid on a reception in his honour in the McGuinness Music School.
Fr Brendan, who had a heart condition for much of his life, was fitted with a pacemaker early in 2018 and a more sophisticated version later in the year. He maintained an excellent relationship with his surgeon and was always full of praise for his treatment, which he needed more frequently as time drew on. He was reluctant to move from his upstairs room in Valdocco House, but at the end of November 2019 he agreed to take up residence in St John Bosco House, purpose-built for older Salesians, in a room next to the chapel and the lift. He was assisted in making this transfer by friends from the College, as well as the staff in St John Bosco House itself.

The years of COVID restricted Fr Brendan's movement and entailed periods of isolation after medical appointments. However, he was able to celebrate his 60th anniversary of Ordination on 2nd July 2021, and to lead 'Ad multos annos' as usual after the College Celebration of the Feast of St John Bosco in 2022. In common with other members of the community, Fr Brendan received all the available vaccinations, but in spite of strict precautions, everyone in the community contracted the virus early in March 2022. Fr Brendan began to have greater difficulty in walking and was taken to Frimley Park hospital, where he was allowed no visitors until 23rd March. A friend from the College spent about an hour with him on the evening of 24th March. He died the following morning, on the Feast of the Annunciation.

The funeral took place at on 12th April in the College Hall. Fr Gerry Briody, the current Provincial, was Principal Celebrant and Fr Hugh Preston preached the homily. The Mass was live-streamed and recorded by the College technical team. Salesians came from communities all over the Province. The congregation numbered about 300, including relatives who had flown from Dublin and many present and former students and staff, a fitting witness to the great esteem in which Fr Brendan was held. May he rest in peace!

Fr Patrick Sherlock SDB