The capitular friars of the Province of Ireland have re-elected Fr. John Martin Harris, OP, as Prior Provincial, on August 28, 2025. After his confirmation by the Master of the Order, Fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP, with the signature of his Vicar, Fr. Pablo Carlos Sicouly, OP, on the same date, Fr. John accepted his election and made his Profession of Faith.
Fr. John, son of Ella and Jackie Harris, was born in the city of Limerick, Ireland, on May 5, 1963. His family always attended the Dominican church of Limerick and from the age of seven he served Mass in the conventual church. He applied for admission to the Order at the end of high school, entered the pre-novitiate in 1980, made solemn profession in 1985, and was ordained priest on August 7, 1988.
Fr. John began his theological studies in 1982 at the Dominican Studium of St. Mary’s, Tallaght, Ireland. He was later sent to University College Dublin, where he graduated in Philosophy and Politics in 1986, and then to the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), in Rome, Italy, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in Theology. In 1992, Fr. John obtained the Licentiate at the Angelicum after writing a dissertation on the laity: The Church in politics. In 1999, he was assigned to the convent of San Clemente in Rome to begin his doctoral studies, which he completed in 2004 with a thesis entitled Ethics in Constitutional Law: A Theological Reflection on the Preamble to the Irish Constitution, directed by Fr. Wojciech Giertych, OP, Theologian of the Papal Household.
Fr. John was assigned to the community of Drogheda, Ireland, in 1992. During his time in Drogheda, he worked in the church, served as part of the chaplaincy team for the nuns of the Monastery of St. Catherine of Siena, and preached retreats and parish missions throughout Ireland and the United Kingdom. In 1996, he was assigned to Tallaght to teach ecclesiology at the Studium, where he became Secretary of Studies in 1997 and continued teaching various courses. He was appointed Moderator of Institutional Studies at the Dublin Studium in 2004. In 2008, he was appointed Regent of Studies of the Province of Ireland. While serving as Regent, he was also a member of the Bioethics Committee, National Spiritual Director of “Youth 2000 Ireland,” and a member of the Board of Directors of Spirit Radio. In 2016, after completing his mandate as Regent, Fr. John was elected prior of the convent of Newbridge (Ireland). During that time, he also served as rector of the church, was part of the chaplaincy team for the 900 students of the Dominican College, and continued his preaching mission throughout Ireland, the United States, and Canada.
Fr. John Martin Harris, OP, was elected Prior Provincial of the Province of Ireland on August 4, 2021, during the Chapter held at St. Mary’s Convent, Tallaght, Ireland. We accompany this second mandate with our prayers for the next four years, from 2025 to 2029.
