It’s a bit mad, isn’t it,” says Fr Ray Kelly. We’re sitting in the Oldcastle parochial house and Fr Ray is telling us how he broke over 20m views on Youtube, which led to a record deal with major record label, Universal Music. We agree, it is a bit mad.

But for people and parishioners who knew Fr Ray before his rendition of Hallelujah at a wedding went viral, his rise to fame shouldn’t have been a surprise.

After years of singing, Ray believes his break has finally come.

“When I think of it, it’s like a jigsaw and all the pieces are coming together,” he says. “Long before I was a priest I was singing. I was always a singer.”

However, religious vocation came before musical aspirations and, interestingly, it was the priesthood that led to his current fame.

“I was thinking, it’s a pity this didn’t happen 20 year ago,” he says. “But if it did happen back then I might have left the priesthood, but this all happened because I’m a priest.”

Ray’s journey to the priesthood wasn’t typical. Now in his 60s, he was ordained 25 years ago, after working for the civil service.

“I worked in Dublin for about 10 years,” he explains. “But then I started thinking about the priesthood in my late 20s. It started when I decided to go to mass every day for Lent, like you would give up sweets or chocolate.

“These thoughts started coming into my mind about priesthood and a tug of war started in my head. I thought: ‘Don’t be an eejit’. It would leave my mind and then it would come back. This went on for a long time.”

Then in 1980, Ray went to Rome with the Catholic Youth Council and sung in front of the Pope. The visit sealed his decision.

“I sang Danny Boy and I was so affected by the visit. I think it was the Holy Spirit working through the Pope,” he says.

After his ordination, Fr Ray went to South Africa and America before settling in Meath. He was stationed in Navan for nine years, where he was involved with the musical society and the formation of a rock gospel choir, before moving to Oldcastle.

Fr Ray indulged his love for singing at weddings, when he would usually sing for the bride and groom. Then the wedding of Chris and Leah O’Kane happened.

“I said it to them that I might sing a song. They shrugged their shoulders, not really knowing. That is kinda how it happened,” he says.

“It all just fell into place. My voice had never been as good and the notes came out perfectly,” he continues. “Normally I would never flash the eyebrows at the couple, but I did because they looked so shocked. I was trying to make them smile. When the people in the congregation saw it they started tittering and laughing.”

Because it was something he always did at weddings, Ray didn’t think any more of it until he received an email from the couple the following week.

“In the email they included a link to the video on YouTube. Within an hour the phone started ringing: ‘You’re at a 1,000 hits, you’re at 2,000 hits’,” says Ray. “Then Ryan Tubridy called and I was going to the Late Late Show. By then it was at 11m hits.

“Holy week came the following week. With the preparations for Easter beginning, I decided to cut the music out. Meanwhile, I was getting calls from everywhere.”

Going viral, with people from all over the world having viewed the video (Poland, Germany and America in particular), is a concept Fr Ray is still trying to grasp.

“I went into a few talent competitions when I came back from South Africa,” he explains.

“There was one on at the Bridge House in Tullamore and I won it. I got £600 and it went into all the local papers. That was viral back then. That’s nothing compared with now. People know stuff instantly now.”

But unlike other viral stars, it seems that Fr Ray’s fame isn’t a flash in the pan. His album was released before Christmas and will be out in America this March.

“I know then there will be demands on me and there will be a tour of America. People are nearly looking for it already,” says Ray. “I already have American tourists come to the church to listen to me sing.”

It’s all a bit mad, but this has been Fr Ray’s journey.

“Life is gradually unfolding and my time has come,” he smiles. “It’s hard to believe.”

The album, Where I Belong, includes the new track Together Forever (The Wedding Song), and is out now through Universal Music. CL