Fr. Dick Lehane was born in Crossmahon, Lissarda, Co. Cork on 22nd December 1918. After secondary studies in Rockwell College he entered the congregation in 1936 and make his First Profession 8th Sept 1937. He Prefected in Rockwell from 1939-1941 and following his studies, he made his Perpetual Vows on 1st October 1940 and was ordained on 15th July 1945.

Following his Consecration to the Apostolate on 31st July, 1946, Fr. Dick was appointed to Nigeria where he worked apart from 1969 when he was farm bursar in Kimmage. He returned to Biafra before the Biafra war ended and returned to Ireland in 1970.

His time in the missions was often dangerous with civil wars etc. His brother Donal Lehane recalls that he would often spend as much as five years away in Nigeria before a visit home. Donal Lehane said that once he returned with a cured crocodile skin, which his mother, Mrs Janie Lehane, got made into a very fine handbag.

He then moved to St. Mary's Rathmines where he worked on the staff and as bursar until 1975. Later that year Fr.Dick was appointed to Sierra Leone where he worked until returning to Ireland in 1981. In 1982 Fr. Dick joined the Rockwell College Community until moving to St. Mary's College in 1986.

He was also a fine rugby player. This game he picked up in Rockwell. While prefect there he played senior rugby briefly with Garyowen. While in Dublin he played senior rugby again with St. Mary's, Blackrock. His position was scrum-half (same as Peter Stringer on current Irish team).

He won an Irish cap when picked to represent Ireland against a British Army side in 1941-42. No full international competitions were held during the war. This cap is still with the Lehane family in Crossmahon, Lissarda. Indeed he loved the game so much it was said that he often cleared the desks and would be seen coaching srummaging in the classroom during his teaching time in Dublin and Rockwell. Morale lessons were often illustrated using rugby illustrations.

In February 1999, Fr. Dick's health deteriorated and he moved from St. Mary's to Marian House. Before being hospitalised in St.Patrick's and St. James' and finally the Hampstead Hospital where he died Monday, 12th Sept 1999.