Canon Brendan McGee: 'Thank you for your life and your kindness. You lived with vigour and died with hope' Canon Brendan McGee at prayer in St Patrick's Church in Donegall Street, Belfast. Picture by Hugh Russell 06 March, 2021 01:01 Screenshot ON the occasion of the death of someone who has lived so long, with such strength and so fruitfully as Canon Brendan McGee, sorrow and joy are inseparable companions: thanksgiving for such a life; sadness at its completion. Until recently Dean of the Cathedral Chapter and the most senior priest in Down and Connor by age and ordination, Brendan – who died aged 96 on February 9 - wore his eminence lightly.