Donlevy, Andrew (1680?–1746), catholic priest and catechist, was born, probably in 1680, near Bellaghy (Charlestown) on the Mayo–Sligo border. Seemingly ordained in Ireland, he entered the Irish college (housed in the Collège des Lombards) at Paris in 1710, and later registered (1718) in the faculty of law at the University of Paris, taking his licence in law in 1720. Appointed prefect of the Irish college, of which he was a strong defender, in 1722, he wished to see an end to the practice of ordaining priests in Ireland in advance of their education on the continent. The controversy this aroused was ultimately inconclusive. He was appointed titular dean of Raphoe, but it is not clear that he ever visited the diocese.
Donlevy corresponded with the historian Walter Harris (qv), who acknowledged his scholarly assistance, including the sending of books from Paris. In 1742 he published in Paris An teagasg Críosduidhe, do réir ceasda agus freagartha, a catechism of Christian doctrine, with facing Irish and English text, with the intention of offsetting a shortage of catechetical material in Ireland. The volume also contained a reprint of the verse synopsis of Christian doctrine by Giolla Brighde Ó hEódhasa (qv) and an essay in English on the ‘elements of the Irish language’, in which he expressed regret that Irish was on the brink of decay. Donlevy died at the Irish college on 6 December 1746 and was buried in the vaults of the college chapel (subsequently the church of St Ephraim des Syriens) in rue des Carmes.