Father Donavan was the parish priest at St. Luke's Catholic Church in 1989. Donavan had a history in the parish and had met Brian Tilsley, and was therefore Ivy Brennan's preferred choice to officiate at Brian's funeral. However, as Brian and Gail hadn't been practicing Catholics for some years, Gail arranged a non-denominational Christian funeral for Brian instead, causing much ill-feeling between her and Ivy.