Keynote Speakers

Bishop Phonsie Cullinan

Bishop Cullinan was born in Lahinch, County Clare in 1959 to Christy and Rita and has four sisters and five brothers. Bishop Cullinan is a priest of the diocese of Limerick.

His family moved to Limerick city where he attended the Salesians for early education, John F Kennedy National School and the Crescent College Comprehensive (SJ) for his secondary education. From 1978-1981 he attended Mary Immaculate College of Education Limerick and qualified as a primary teacher (B.Ed) in 1981, and taught for six years in Castleconnell, County Limerick. He worked part-time during that time for four years with the Bunratty Castle Entertainers before going to Spain where he taught English for two years in a school in Valladolid.

Bishop Cullinan studied at Saint Patrick’s College Maynooth from 1989-1995 where he completed an STL (Licentiate in Theology). He was ordained by Bishop Jeremiah Newman in 1994 in Saint John’s Cathedral, Limerick, and appointed Curate in Saint Munchin’s Parish Limerick city 1995-1996. Bishop Cullinan’s next appointment was as chaplain to the Regional Hospital in Limerick from 1996 until 2001. He studied for his doctorate in moral theology in the Alfonsianum in Rome 2001-2004 and was appointed chaplain to the Limerick Institute of Technology 2004-2011. He was appointed Parish Priest of Rathkeale , County Limerick in 2011.

He was ordained Bishop of Waterford & Lismore on Sunday 12th April 2015.

Mother Adela Galindo

Mother Adela Galindo was born in Leon, Nicaragua. Her childhood was marked by a profound Marian spirituality which paved the way for the Holy Spirit to give birth in her and through her to a new charism: a Marian school of holiness for many vocations, all for the good of the Church. Mother Adela considers the gift of the Blessed Mother's maternity in her life to be the most beautiful gift the Lord has given her from her childhood until the present. Mother expresses the depth of her filial relationship with the Blessed Mother with these words: "My path is Marian; everything in my life has been a gift of Our Lady's Heart. My greatest desire is to always be the smallest daughter of Our Lady and to live and to die in the School of Mary's Heart".

During her youth, Mother Adela became actively involved in the Charismatic Renewal, becoming the leader of the Youth of the Renewal in Leon, Nicaragua at the early age of 13. During this time, Mother Adela was able to experience the powerful effects of the union of the Marian and Charismatic spiritualities, which led her to a deep love for the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus and to consolidate in her heart what she defines as the four pillars upon which her life is based: profoundly Marian, Eucharistic centered, actively receiving and communicating the gifts of the Holy Spirit and in loving communion with the Heart of the Church and at her service. At 13 as a youth leader, Mother first began giving talks throughout Nicaragua.