Father McGlinchey arrived on Jeju in 1954 as a member of the Missionary Society of St. Columban. He spent the rest of his life working to improve the lives of local residents. He died in 2018 and was posthumously granted honorary Korean citizenship.
“The Warmest Green in the World”... The Journey of Father Patrick James McGlinchey, Who Planted Hope on the Impoverished Island of Jeju is the book reviewed in the Catholic Times. Capturing the History and Vision of Isidore Farm. Turning Wasteland into a Green Paradise… A Record of Love That Revitalized Jeju. Written by Kim Tae-hoon / Photos by Jun Choi / 328 pages.
In 1953, a 25-year-old Irish priest set foot on Korean soil for the first time. He was Patrick James McGlinchey (1928–2018) of the Missionaries of St. Columban. Street children pointed at him, shouting, “American, American!” He turned around, walked toward them, and said clearly: “I’m not an American. I’m an Irishman. So please call me an Irishman.” The children burst into laughter, clutching their stomachs, and followed him. That was how Father's connection with Korea began.
On April 11 of the following year, he set foot in Jeju Port as the first pastor of Hallim Parish in the Diocese of Jeju. It was the first step of his 64-year life in Jeju.
The book covers the 70-odd years from Father's arrival in Jeju to the birth and present-day state of Isidore Farm. Going beyond a single person’s biography, it traces how the history of the Missionaries of St. Columban and Jeju’s modern and contemporary history have been linked under the name Isidore. On a poor and isolated island deeply shadowed by the Korean War and the April 3 Incident, he prioritized the lives of the residents over missionary work. He believed that what the starving people needed most, even before the Gospel, was the strength to take root in self-reliance.
Jeju’s barren environment resembled his hometown of “Donegal” in Ireland. Having grown up in the poorest region of Northern Ireland, which had endured famine and war, he knew firsthand how precious “the bare minimum for survival” truly was. The Isidore Farm, born from this conviction, transformed the once-barren mid-mountain region of Jeju into a vast grassland.
Although the area was mostly brown in early April, the fields of Isidore Farm were uniquely lush with green pasture. Nearly 20,000 pigs were in the barns, while thousands of sheep grazed leisurely in the fields. The fact that these pigs were exported to Hong Kong and Japan surprised government officials at the time. The wool knitwear brand Hallim Sujeok provided jobs to over 1,000 women.
The Isidore Farm Pioneer Farmhouse Project was on a different level from government initiatives that merely provided housing. From the very beginning, the project provided not only housing but also ancillary facilities such as warehouses and pigsties, ample land and livestock, and training in livestock farming and pasture management. Despite the burden of having to clear by hand the 30,000 pyeong of land allotted to each household, the residents put down roots on that land.
Father broadened his focus to align with the life stages of the Jeju people. In their 20s to 40s, he dedicated himself to helping them escape poverty and achieve economic self-reliance; in their 50s and beyond, he turned his attention to welfare. By the time he reached his 60s, the Jeju people with whom he had first formed bonds were entering their twilight years. He regarded the establishment of a hospice as his final mission.
The story of Father Patrick, who grew old alongside Jeju, and Isidore Farm is a tale of one person saving another. By instilling the belief that people can stand on their own and by sowing seeds together in barren fields, they produced the most beautiful greenery in Jeju. Father Patrick took great pride in transforming the once-barren land of Jeju into a lush green landscape.
The book concludes with an interview with Father Lee Eo-don (Michael Joseph Leardon, Society of St. Columban), the current chairman of the Isidore Rural Industrial Development Association, which explores the changes and vision of Isidore in the 21st century.
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