Three parish priests from Northern Ireland have a shot at topping the pop charts in Britain during this year’s Christmas season.

The Sunday Times reported earlier this week that a new CD of songs recorded by the three priests — Father Eugene O’Hagan, 49, his brother Father Martin O’Hagan, 45, and their childhood friend Father David Delargy, 45 — sold more than 29,000 copies on its first day of release last week.

The trio, who perform as The Priests, grew up in Northern Ireland and began singing together decades ago. According to The Sunday Times, when the trio were in seminary together their harmonies earned them the good-natured nickname of “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

“Even after all three became priests, they carried on getting together to sing,” writes Times reporter Rosie Millard. “At one point, while studying at the Gregorian University in Rome, they even sang a liturgy before Pope John Paul II.”

How were The Priests discovered by the commercial music industry?

“They would have happily continued as a part-time local act,” Millard reports “But then someone from Sony came across a demo tape from the trio, while searching for individual male voices for a Latin Mass album. And almost immediately, the words ‘potentially one of the world’s biggest musical acts’ started being muttered at executive levels. “

Sony has backed up this judgment by signing the priests to a $2-million contract. And Millard agrees with Sony’s assessment that the three fathers — all of whom continue to serve as parish priests despite their newfound musical fame — are the real McCoy musically.

“A cynic might easily conclude that these three singing priests are just the latest gimmick for a recession-hit music industry, desperate for some seasonal payola,” Millard comments. “After all, these particular fathers come ready-packaged with twinkling eyes and great voices. The sincerity in their Ave Maria vibrato is almost palpable. And what do you know? More than 29,000 copies of their debut CD shifted last week in its first day of release, making it a likely contender for a Christmas No. 1 in the UK album charts. The bosses at Sony, who have given this mini-God squad a recording deal worth £1.4m, will be opening their Advent calendars tomorrow morning with joy in their hearts.”

Says Millard, “Yet for all the high-level packaging, The Priests really are the genuine article, who deliver the classic church music they have always sung, from Ave Maria to O Holy Night, in perfect harmony.”

You can judge their musical abilities for yourself by clicking on the video at the beginning of this Daily Blog post, or by clicking on this link to their version of O Holy Night posted on Youtube. You can also check them out on EWTN’s Christmas Special, which will air Dec. 19th at 8 p.m. and will be rebroadcast several times in the following days.

They will also be featured this weekend on CBS Sunday Morning and on a special being aired at various times by local PBS affiliates. More details are available here, at The Priests’ U.S. website.

— Tom McFeely