Fr Thomas Kilkenny
(23 July 1922 - 7 May 2018)
Fr Thomas
Kilkenny was born in Lecarrow, Carrowbehy, Castlerea, County Roscommon, Ireland, on 23 July
1922. He was educated at Gorthaganny National School, County Roscommon, and Summerhill
College, Sligo. He came to St Columban's, Dalgan Park, in September 1940 and was ordained priest in December
1946.
Castlerea, County Roscommon [Wikipedia]
Father Tom was assigned
to Japan in 1947 and apart from his vacations and a year or so working in Mindanao, Philippines, in the 1950s, he spent the next fifty-five
years working there in a variety of pastoral assignments. His first assignment
was to Oiso. This was followed by stints in Toshima, Tokyo, and a longer period
in Katase, Kanagawa.
Christ the King Church, Choshi [Source]
Then he spent
time in two Chiba parishes, in Choshi and then in Tateyama. In Kumamoto he
taught in the Marist High School and then worked for eight years in Tamana.
After that there were assignments in Kamugawa, Chiba, and Hakone, Kanagawa.
Hakone Tozan Railway [Wikipedia]
His last five
years in Japan were spent in Tokyo, and after that, in 2003, he returned to
Ireland where he lived in Cloontrasna, Castlerea, County Roscommon, not far from
his birthplace. Father Tom valued his independence and reluctantly agreed to move to
the Dalgan Nursing Home in December 2015 when he could no longer care
adequately for his own needs.
Father Tom was a quiet,
private person, a conscientious pastor who spoke excellent Japanese, and
dedicated himself to the people in his many assignments. He chose to be
buried close to his family in Gorthaganny Cemetery, Castlerea, County Roscommon.
May he rest in
peace.
In the last couple of years of his life Father Tom would often tell Fr Bernard Mulkerins about a blacksmith's forge that he loved to visit in his childhood days. He also loved poetry. The video above begins with the opening lines of The Village Blacksmith by Longfellow. The forge is only about an hour's drive from where Father Tom grew up.
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