Visiting Scholar
Martin Magill
Fr Martin Magill is a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Down and Connor in Northern Ireland. Ordained in 1988, he has ministered in parishes across Belfast and County Antrim, most recently serving as Parish Priest of St John’s on the Falls Road from 2017 to 2026.
In 2013, he co-founded Belfast’s 4 Corners Festival with Presbyterian minister the Revd Steve Stockman. He continues to serve as a director and member of its planning committee. Through events and conversation, the festival encourages people to cross the city’s religious, political and geographical divides. In May 2026, Fr Martin was installed as an Ecumenical Canon of St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast.
Fr Martin studied at Queen’s University Belfast and at the Gregorian University and the Angelicum in Rome, where he completed a master’s degree in ecumenism. He is the author of The Poor Clares in Belfast, 1924–2012 and has also written about Belfast’s street names, faith and public life.
As a Visiting Scholar at St John’s College, his research project is entitled Receptive Ecumenism, Reconciliation and the Renewal of the Church: Reflections from Parish Ministry in Northern Ireland. Drawing on his experience of parish ministry and ecumenical peacebuilding, he will explore what the Churches might learn from one another in their shared pursuit of renewal and reconciliation.