Courtney McGrailFr Tom Kennedy reflects with Rachel Beard on his life in the Church as he turns100
Rachel Beard
“You’re not 100 – you’re 18 with 82 years of experience!” reads the card on the end table. A banner that says “18 Today!” hangs in the kitchen while a crowd of people prepare for Liverpool-based Fr Tom Kennedy’s 100th birthday party in his native Co. Carlow. His family is visiting from all over the world to celebrate with him. Some are coming from as far away as Australia.
“Did she show you pictures? I have one from the Queen.” Fr Tom says as he points at the end table, a childish grin on his face. Next to the first card, a gift from friends in his parish, is a second with Queen Elizabeth II’s face on the front.
“I am so pleased to know that you are celebrating your one hundredth birthday on 2nd July, 2016,” reads the card. “I send my congratulations and best wishes to you on such a special occasion.” It’s addressed to the Reverend Father Thomas Kennedy and signed by the Queen herself. Fr Tom cheekily points it out to every visitor on his birthday, asking everyone if they’ve “seen the Queen” yet.
“Every year, I tell my kids: ‘this will probably be his last year so let’s make it special!’” says Fr Tom’s niece, Celine Ashmore. Fr Tom is staying with her while she hosts his birthday party in her home in Bagenalstown. “I’ve been telling them that for 14 years now.”
In honour of his turning 100, a Mass was held in Fr Tom’s hometown in Carlow where he was presented with a medal.
Family
“How do you feel about turning 100?” Celine asks her uncle. He smiles and waves his hand dismissively, a high whine coming from his hearing aid as he fiddles with it.
“Don’t blame me for that,” Fr Tom says. “It’s the good Lord.”
Fr Tom is the last surviving member of 14 siblings. His aunt was a nun, four of his brothers were also priests, and two other brothers joined a seminary but were never ordained.
“It was always my desire [to become a priest], and I loved the people,” Fr Tom says. “That’s why I’m still a normal parish priest of English Martyrs.”
Fr Tom has been serving in Liverpool’s English Martyrs parish on and off since he was ordained 73 years ago. He has celebrated his 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th and 70th birthdays at the church and will now be celebrating his 100th there as well. Yet, despite his close ties to Liverpool, Fr Tom still calls Carlow home.
“Every year when he comes in July and August, he says, ‘I’m going home’,” Celine says. “And then at the end, he says, ‘I’m going back to England.’ His Irish connections are still very, very strong.”
Having served as a parish priest for 73 years, Fr Tom has a unique perspective on the recent history of the Church. “I’ve seen so many changes,” Fr Tom says. “As a matter of fact, in the last few years, we changed the prayer at the Mass. It used to be in Latin, but now it’s in English. The words are all in English so the people can understand it.”
Fr Tom is especially appreciative the changes in the relationship between the Church of England and the Catholic Church since he was first ordained.
“At one time, you had the minister up there and down here, and we didn’t have anything to do with each other,” he says. “When I went to England the first canon in charge of the parish across the road, if he was coming down the road and I was going up, he’d be on one side and I’d be on the other, but we wouldn’t have that now. We’d go and talk to each other. We’d talk about what’s happening in the churches, their Church and ours.”
The divide between the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church has existed for generations, but Fr Tom reminds others that the two are alike because they “have the same God”.
“Although, mind you, I thought one time, we were going to be one, but then in the Church of England, they ordained women deacons,” he says. “That has separated the two, but it hasn’t separated our friendship.”
Interaction
Fr Tom has also noticed that the ways in which people interact with the Church have changed a great deal in the past 70 years.
“They’re beginning to regard religion as something personal, both for you and for me, and thanks be to God for that,” Fr Tom says. “But I’ve always found, in the last 30 years, I’ve found the Church of England to be very interested with us, and we joined up sometimes doing services. We don’t throw the Protestants in the heap, even though God said, ‘remember Man that thou art dust and back to dust you shall return’.”
But even when discussing something as serious as the division between Protestants and Catholics, Fr Tom is still looking for a smile.
“I quoted that here the other morning,” he says. “When I came down the stairs and somebody was hoovering, and I said, ‘right, you’ve got another heap of dust called me!’.”
Fr Tom says he’s been “very lucky” and although he’s “ready to go” whenever the Lord decides to take him, he’s confident his legacy will live on in the Church.
“At times, you often think that it’s failing, but that’s not what our Lord said,” Fr Tom says. “Our Lord said we would never fail. That’s what he said, and that’s what I hope, in that much, in our Lord, I hope. I’m sure it will never happen. It will never fail.”