Aidan Troy
Fr. Aidan Troy is an Irish Catholic priest who has served in Rome, Ardoyne in Northern Ireland, and Paris.[1] He is a member of the Passionist order.[2]
Early life
He was born in Bray, County Wicklow in 1946.[3] His father worked on the railways and his mother looked after him, his brother and sister.[3]
He graduated from University College Dublin with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy in 1967 and from Clonliffe College with a bachelor of divinity degree in 1971.[3]
He was ordained around Christmas 1971.[2]
Holy Cross dispute
He was posted from Rome to the Ardoyne area of Belfast, where he became parish priest.[1] He also became head of the board of governors of Holy Cross Primary school, a Catholic school in a Protestant area.[1]
In June 2001 Loyalist protestors began picketing the school, claiming that Catholics were regularly attacking their homes.[1] The harassment escalated from sectarian taunting to stones, bricks, fireworks and blast bombs after the school holidays.[1] He walked with the parents and children daily for three months.[1]
During this time he received a series of death threats.[1] On one occasion police offered to escort him to the border with the Republic of Ireland as there had been a threat to kill him that weekend.[1] He turned down that offer as well as an offer of the use of an apartment in Belfast owned by the Irish government.[1]
In April 2003 a 17 year old took their own life in Holy Cross and the experience he had dealing with the deceased's family led him to publish a book, Out Of The Shadow: Responding To Suicide in 2009.[3]
Paris
In 2008 he was posted to a parish in Paris. He was reluctant to leave, but he obeyed his superiors.[2]
He used to relax by playing golf but started cycling in Paris.[3] He is also a fan of Accrington Stanley F.C.[3]
He suggested in 2014 that the French practice of separating religious and secular education is something that might be explored in Ireland.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Buckley, Dan (22 March 2014). "'I can still visualise it all and see the faces of the children in front of me'- Father Aidan Troy". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ a b c "Father Troy's new mission in Paris". Belfast Telegraph. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "New siege of Troy: We profile a controversial priest". Belfast Telegraph. 9 August 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2019.