Roman Catholic Cardinal. The son of a civil servant, Phibsboro born Desmond Connell frequented the local St. Peter's National School before entering Belvedere College in Dublin and subsequently Holy Cross College. Furthering his studies at University College of Dublin, the Seminary of Maynooth and Louvain University in Belgium, he was ordained priest by Archbishop John Charles McQuaid C.S.Sp., of Dublin on May 19, 1951. Chaplain to three communities of contemplative sisters: the Poor Clares of Donnybrook, the Carmelites of Drumcondra and the Carmelites of Blackrock, as of 1953 he formed part of the Department of Metaphysics of the named University College Dublin. Appointed professor of general metaphysics in 1972, he was elected dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Sociology in 1983 and was re-elected anew three years later. Awarded in 1981 the degree of Doctor in Letters by the National University of Ireland for his publications, he was a member of the Irish Hierarchy's theological commission and of the Diocesan Committee on Ecumenism. Pope John Paul II elected him archbishop of Dublin on January 21, 1988, receiving his episcopal consecration at the city's pro-cathedral of St. Mary on the following March 6 from Msgr. Gaetano Alibrandi, then apostolic nuncio in Ireland. His, was a surprise appointment, with Connell eventually going on to become the first Dublin archbishop to be made cardinal in almost one hundred twenty years, when the named Pontiff created him cardinal priest in the consistory of February 21, 2001 with the title of San Silvestro in Capite. Vice-president of the Irish Episcopal Conference, he resigned the pastoral government of his see on April 26, 2004. In his later years he was severely criticized for lack of action and for making misleading statements in connection with the sex abuse of priests in his archdiocese, for which stand he would eventually apologize publicly. Marred by a lengthy illness, he passed peacefully away during the night in his sleep.