Priest, Footballer, Missionary, Father – the extraordinary lives of Frank Diamond
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How did Frank Diamond’s early life in South Derry shape his path to Gaelic football and the priesthood?
The Mario Rosenstock Podcast. Thanks to Hum. Finance made easy when you shop tech, electrical, appliances, kitchens and much more. Flexify Europe Limited trading as Hum is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Coming up on this episode of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast.
And she wrote me a little letter, Mario, whenever I headed off to the salmon ray, and in the letter she says she says, Frankie, look, I could understand it if you had a left me for another woman, but God just takes the biscuit.
Great excuse. Frankie, I have to hand it to you for your excuse. Some people go, It's not you, it's me. You go, it's not you, it's Jesus.
Ha ha.
Some people lead extraordinary lives, lives that take turns you could possibly never predict, and sometimes they couldn't predict them either. And my special guest on this episode is one of those people. Frank Diamond grew up on a farm in South Derry. He won an All Ireland club medal with Lavi and at eighteen decided to become a missionary priest. He went on to spend nine years in Africa living and working in some of the most remote communities imaginable, while somehow continuing to play Competitive Gaelic football along the way. Then, at forty, Frank left the priesthood and began an entirely new chapter, Marriage, Fatherhood, Heartbreak, Reinvention, and ultimately a new calling, working in mental health and suicide prevention.
It's been some journey, full of extraordinary experiences and some wonderful stories, and we get to hear some of the best of them on this episode of the Mario Rosenstock Podcast.
And I knew I needed to get her to that hospital a one hour drive away. So I packed her into the back of the Land Rover, set sail. Ten minutes from arriving at the hospital she gave birth to the baby in the back of my Land Rover. Some crack! They all then gather around the fire at night and they bring out the goatskin drums and they start bumba da bumba da bumba. So I get up and I join in for buttercrack. I do an old chicken dance and a couple of things, I'm sure they're bursting their sights laughing at this big white man trying to dance and speak their language with a county dairy accent. And for three years it was a matter of going into the change room, taking off the collar, hang hanging it up, Mario putting on the Glen jersey boy, brought the lads all in for a prayer, finished off the prayer, went like my God bless us, Father, Son, the Holy Spirit amen, and then I would go right
lads, let's get out
of
there And
I'll not tell you
what I
said.
Like a the priest going, Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on us. Lamb of God. Let's get fucking stuck in, lads. My full chat with Frank Diamond coming up in just a few minutes time. But first, ah well, as you know, Trump is coming to Ireland in September. Big deal, isn't it? And he's got a few ideas for how to make the most of it. We got exclusive access to one of the many voicemails he's been sending Mihal Martin lately.
Good evening, Mihaul. This is President Donald J. Trump. As you know, I am visiting um your country to visit my beautiful golf course, one of the greatest golf courses in the world of fantastic links. And I'm gonna be coming soon and I've got some great news for Ireland. We're gonna make Ireland great again, but only if certain conditions are met I Beautiful country, incredible co it's got so much potential. We're gonna make Ireland great again, Michael, but I'm willing to invest very substantially huge money, big, big, billions, maybe trillions. Nobody knows, but there are certain conditions. One, I'm gonna put Gianni Infantino, he's a great guy. You saw him FIFA, we had the World Cup football. You call it soccer.
The GAA. I'm gonna put Gianni in charge of the GAA, make it a private company. Croke Park will be renamed Truth Social Stadium halftime. We're gonna extend to two hours and feature special performances, great entertainment, Kid Rock, Lee Greenwood, Justin Bieber. I don't like Canadians, but you know, he's a good guy. Maybe even the wolf toads, they're guy they're mad, they're crazy, beautiful people.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Frank Diamond’s early life in South Derry shape his path to Gaelic football and the priesthood?
0:00–10:37
2
How did Frank manage to keep playing competitive Gaelic football while serving as a missionary priest in Africa?
10:37–20:04
3
What were the most memorable challenges Frank faced during his nine years in Africa, such as malaria and living without basic utilities?
20:04–27:05
4
How did Frank’s experience delivering a baby in the back of a Land Rover illustrate his missionary work?
27:05–36:50
5
What lessons of gratitude, simplicity, and community did Frank learn from his time in remote African villages?
36:50–43:30
6
How did Frank’s daughter Leisha’s Down syndrome diagnosis influence his family life and perspective?
43:30–52:16
7
What motivated Frank to leave the priesthood and start working in mental‑health and suicide‑prevention with ALPS?
52:16–59:59
8
What key messages does Frank now share about resilience, human connection, and helping others?
59:59–1:08:01
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from The Mario Rosenstock Podcast
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