Brother Walfrid (May 18, 1840 - April 17, 1915) is the religious name of Andrew Kerins, a Marist Brother and founder of Celtic F.C..

He was born in a village in south County Sligo in north west Ireland to John Kerins and Elizabeth Flynn. He studied teaching and in 1864 joined The Marist Brothers Teaching Congregation.

He moved to Scotland in the 1870's and taught at St. Marys School and the Sacred Heart School where he was appointed headmaster in 1874. In 1887, he founded the Celtic F.C. as a means of raising funds for the poor and deprived in the east end of Glasgow in Scotland.

In 1893 Walfrid was sent by his religious superiors to London's East End. Here he continued his work, organizing football matches for the barefoot children in the districts of Bethnal Green and Bow. The charity established by Walfrid was named The Poor Children's Dinner Table.

He died on 17 April 1915, leaving a surviving brother, Bernard, in Cloghboley, County Sligo.

Walfrid is buried in the Mount St. Michael Cemetery in Dumfries.

A commemorative sculpture of Brother Walfrid was erected outside Celtic Park on 5 November 2005.


The ruins of the thatched cottage in Cartron Phibbs, Ballymote, where Brother Walfrid was born.

Pictures

• Brother Walfrid pictures
• Brother Walfrid's Statue

Articles

• Pilgrimmage to Brother Walfrid's resting place (Hullbhoy)