Troy, Aidan 1945-

PERSONAL:

Born October 9, 1945, in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland; son of Daniel and Elizabeth Troy. Education: Attended University College, Dublin, 1964-67, and Clonliffe College, 1967-71. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Northern Ireland. Office—Holy Cross Church, 432 Crumlin Rd., Belfast BT14 7GE, Northern Ireland. E-mail—atroy@compuserve.com.

CAREER:

Passionist Monastery, Crossgar, County Down, Northern Ireland, vocations director; Mount Argus, Dublin, Ireland, preaching ministry and provincial counselor, 1974-80, 1989-94; St. Patrick's Province of Passionists, provincial superior, 1980-86; Passionist Generalate, Rome, Italy, general counselor, 1994-2000; Holy Cross, Ardoyne, Belfast, Northern Ireland, rector, 2001—.

WRITINGS:

Holy Cross: A Personal Experience, Currach Press (Dublin, Ireland), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Aidan Troy served at several religious institutions in Ireland, and in Rome, prior to settling at Holy Cross Passionist Monastery in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where he is the rector. His single request upon taking the post was that he not have too much involvement with the school attached to the monastery. But he has found himself doing just the opposite—spending the majority of his time as rector working with the parish schools. Due to the civil unrest that has reigned over Belfast for years, violence between Protestants and Catholics is a part of everyday life, and it affects many children across the city. The schools at Holy Cross served as a safe haven in the middle of the turmoil, until June, 2001, when a protest blocked children from reaching the Holy Cross Girls' School for a period of two weeks. Troy joined the parish shortly after the incident, and found himself elected as Chair of the Board of Governors, and therefore closely involved in the investigation into ways to keep the school safe. So began a long alliance between Troy and the schools at Holy Cross. He has written about this association in Holy Cross: A Personal Experience, describing the hateful behavior of the divided factions that he witnesses every day, both at the parish and at the schools. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly called the book "a moving story of community activism."

Troy told CA: "At school I developed an interest in essay writing in both English and Gaelic. When ordained a priest, I had a few articles published on vocations to the priesthood and the ministry among young people in schools in Ireland."

"Every week I write in preparation for preaching at the liturgy and find that I write mostly from experience and on topics that engage me at some depth.

"If I cannot put in a paragraph what I want to say, I find it difficult to keep any writing I do in focus and tend to wander.

"When I start writing I am certain about what I will put down on paper. However, as the writing, long or short, goes on, I find that in a true way the topic or story takes twists and turns that surprise me.

"With only one book to my credit I have no choice but to opt for it as my favourite!

"I hope that the book will help parents and schools to move on from the days of protest, and maybe in years to come it will provide one account of what happened at that time."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Troy, Aidan, Holy Cross: A Personal Experience, Currach Press (Dublin, Ireland), 2005.

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, May 22, 2006, review of Holy Cross, p. 12.

ONLINE

Frontline Defenders.org,http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/ (July 18, 2007).

Holy Cross Web site,http://www.holy-cross-ardoyne.com/ (July 18, 2007), author biography.

Pittsburgh Irish.org,http://www.pittsburghirish.org/ (October 19, 2003), Diane V. Byrnes, "Echoes of Happenings around Our Town and Beyond."

Read Ireland Book Reviews,http://www.readireland.ir/ (July 18, 2007), review of Holy Cross.