"Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M., plus many more songs and a few “yarns and jokes in between.”

This is what Fr. Ray Kelly, affectionately dubbed “The Singing Priest,” will serve up at his first-ever Canadian concert at The Riverview Arts Centre in Greater Moncton, N.B., Oct. 22.

The Irish Catholic priest embarked on his maiden U.S. and Canada tour with an engagement at St. Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Unionville, Connecticut on Oct. 10. This seven-concert celebration commemorates the 10th anniversary of Kelly becoming a YouTube sensation thanks to his performance of "Hallelujah" while officiating a wedding for the newly married couple Chris and Lea O’Kane.

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As of Oct. 11, Kelly’s video has attracted 92,161,119 views.  

Kelly told The Catholic Register in a phone interview from Ireland that he had performed the oft-covered folk-rock tune at weddings before April 5, 2014, but that rendition was recorded by loved ones of the O’Kane’s and published online.

Unaware of “what YouTube was” beforehand, Kelly became aware when the couple sent him a clip of his crooning.

“I looked at myself like ‘where did that come from,’ ” reminisced Kelly. “There were various comments about my voice, particularly that it was a beautiful voice. But there were also reactions because when I wink I normally would never flash my eyebrows or wink at a bride or groom at a particular wedding. I think because Lea was getting all teary because of the emotion of the song, I winked at her to make her smile and that was captured beautifully on camera. A lot of people kind of saw me as a bit of a character with a sense of humour as a priest.”

A star was born. Kelly was invited on television shows and radio programs across Ireland, Europe, Australia and the U.S. Universal Music Group invited him to record an album, called Where I Belong, later in 2014 and he followed that up with An Irish Christmas Blessing the following year.

The native of Tyrrellspass was rising and in 2018 he would perform on his biggest stage to date. The producers of the popular talent show competition Britain’s Got Talent avidly implored Kelly to participate in the 12th season. Performing live at 65 years old in front of the infamously hard-to-please music mogul Simon Cowell initially seemed too daunting.

“I said it was something I would not do because I would be ridiculed,” said Kelly. “The (producers) assured me it would be a good experience. “I suppose it's like when the seed was sown in my head, I said the only way to get rid of it is to go and do it.”

Cowell’s reaction was far from the anticipated mockery. He responded to Kelly’s emotional interpretation of Everybody Hurts by immediately getting to his feet and setting off a standing ovation inside The London Palladium.

“Fr. Ray, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, to be honest with you, but I want to tell you something: this is one of my favourite ever auditions,” said Cowell during his adjudication. “I think your voice is beautiful. I loved the version of the song. This is everything we’ve been waiting for, genuinely.”

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Weeks later, Kelly returned to compete in the semifinals. There was controversy surrounding the song he selected for this elimination round. "Go Rest High on That Mountain" by country artist Vince Gill was not considered recognizable enough for the at-home voting audience.

He had also practised Simon and Garfunkel’s "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Kelly said some people told him that if he proceeded with that selection, he would have advanced into the final instead of finishing fourth out of eight in his semi-final heat — just one spot shy.

Kelly, however, has no regrets. "Go Rest High on That Mountain" held a deep meaning to him as a friend sent him the song as he was mourning his younger sister who died of esophageal cancer in 2016.

“I felt that it was out of my control,” said Kelly. “I just had to sing that song. I believe that was the Holy Spirit working in me. The performance and presentation came across well with the gospel choir in the background.” 

Complementing his gratitude for the Holy Spirit in guiding him to take these chances, Kelly said his ability to “interpret the emotion of a song is a gift from God.”

In 2020, Kelly participated in the fourth season of Dancing with the Stars in Ireland and advanced to the 10th episode with choreographer Kylee Vincent before being eliminated just before the final round.

Beyond 2024 being 10 years since Kelly soared into notoriety with his voice, this year represents the 35th anniversary of his priestly ordination in 1989. He began his ministerial work as a missionary priest in South Africa on behalf of the St. Patrick's Society for the Foreign Missions. He worked in the Tzaneen Diocese in Limpopo Province on and off for several years.

Ultimately, there was a desire to work closer to home, and he has now served in the Diocese of Meath for many years. In May 2023, he transitioned from being a parish priest at St. Brigid's & St. Mary's parish at Oldcastle, County Meath, to serving as associate pastor at the Catholic parishes in Kilcormac, Rahan and Eglish villages in County Offaly.

Kelly became a priest at 36 years old, but a decade earlier his life journey briefly intersected with Pope John Paul II on two occasions. In 1979, Kelly and some friends followed the relatively new pontiff — he began his 26-year tenure as Bishop of Rome on Oct. 16, 1978 — on his tour through Ireland.

One year later, then working in the civil service, Kelly felt called to gather some friends to visit the Pope in Rome to express their gratitude for his coming to their homeland.

“About 1,000 of us in the Diocese of Dublin got together within the Catholic Youth Society, and we all went off on pilgrimage to Rome for about eight or nine days,” recalled Kelly. “We met him in St. Peter’s Square for a Mass and then we went out to Castel Gandolfo for a beautiful Mass. We got together in groups of 50 and took photos with him. I was invited to sing the Irish song, 'Danny Boy.'

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“Afterwards, we knelt before him, and he presented us with beautiful rosary beads, which I still have to this day.”

While blessed with fond recollections of the past, Kelly is eager to make new memories in the present with this current tour. He intends to do some sightseeing in every community he visits. Kelly will be accompanied by Fr. Carlos Jacinto, who serves the Archdiocese of Moncton’s Good Shepherd Pastoral Unit. The two priests met during a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2023.