Société des Missions Africaines - Province d'Irlande

né le 24 octobre 1924 dans le diocèse de Liverpool (Grande Bretagne) membre de la SMA le 1er juillet 1943 prêtre le 18 juin 1947 décédé le 28 janvier 2009

1947-1950 Université de Cambridge, études supérieures 1950-1951 Université de Londres, PCE 1951-1952 collège de Ballinafad, professeur 1952-1961 archidiocèse de Lagos, Nigeria 1961-1962 collège de Ballinafad, professeur 1962-1969 archidiocèse de Lagos, Nigeria 1969-1972 collège de Maynooth, professeur 1972-1980 université de Monrovia, Liberia, professeur 1980-1989 Monrovia, en paroisse 1989-1996 Philippines 1996-2009 Wilton, retiré décédé à Cork, le 28 janvier 2009, à l’âge de 84 ans

Father Patrick CARROLL (1924 - 2009)

Patrick James Carroll was born at Bootle, Liverpool (West Derby), England, in the Archdiocese of Liverpool, on 24 October 1924.
He died on Wednesday, 28th January 2009, in St. Theresa’s Nursing Unit, S.M.A. House, Blackrock Road, Cork, Ireland.

The fourth of eight children ( four sons and four daughters) born to Francis James and Mary Josephine (nee Kehoe) Carroll, Patrick (Paddy), was baptised in St. Alphonsus’ Church, Great Mersey Street, Liverpool, on 26th October 1924. Shortly after Paddy’s birth the family moved to the Wirral, and a little later to Wallasey in Chesire. Both of Paddy’s parents were of Irish extraction. His paternal grandfather had worked as a foreman on the Liverpool docks - the family also ran a small shop – while his maternal grandfather owned a grocery store on Scotland Road until driven out of business by the Freemasons because of his religion. Paddy’s father was a schoolteacher. Paddy received his primary education at St. Alban’s Catholic Primary School, Wallasey (1929-1937). For his secondary education (1936-1940) he attended St. Edward's college, Liverpool (a Christian Brothers school, first located at St. Domingo Road, a stones throw from Anfield football stadium, and later, from 1939, in West Derby. Paddy’s contact with the S.M.A. came through his older brother, Kevin, who had joined the Society in 1936. There was also the influence of Fr. Pat Shine S.M.A., a relative of his father by marriage, and another local-born S.M.A., Fr. Joseph Crawford S.M.A., a close friend of his parents, who had served in the Liberian mission field.

Paddy came to the S.M.A. in 1940, commencing a First Arts Course at University College Cork, while living at St. Joseph’s College, Wilton. A year later he entered the Society’s novitiate and house of philosophy, at Kilcolgan, Co Galway. While in Kilcolgan he attended lectures at University College, Galway, and in-house lectures given by a SMA priest designated by the university. In 1943 he was awarded a B.A. degree (his subjects were philosophy and education). He was first received as a member of the Society on 1 July 1943. Later that year he was promoted to the Society’s major seminary, at Dromantine, Newry, Co Down. Paddy became a permanent member of the Society on 14 June 1945. He was ordained a priest in St. Colman’s cathedral, Newry, by Bishop Eugene O’Doherty of Dromore diocese, on 18 June 1947. He was one of a group of sixteen ordained on that occasion.
Paddy was ordained at a time when the second-level education apostolate was being vigorously pursued in the Society’s Anglophone West African Missions, mainly in Nigeria and the Gold Coast (now Ghana). To supply headmasters and teachers for these educational institutions the Society was increasingly sending suitable confreres to universities to secure the appropriate academic qualifications. It was against this background that Paddy was sent to Cambridge University to study for an Arts Degree. In 1950 he was awarded an Honours degree (English Literature was his principal subject) by Christ’s College, Cambridge. He spent the next year at London University where he obtained a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education. He was awarded a Masters Degree from Cambridge in 1953.

In September 1951 Paddy was appointed to the staff of the Sacred Heart College, Ballinafad, Co Mayo, the Society’s secondary school or juniorate. He taught English, European and Irish history - and also took charge of the orchards - until 1952 when (at his own request) he was assigned to Africa – to the Archdiocese of Lagos in sourthern Nigeria. Disembarking on October 22nd from the Aureol, he was posted to the staff of St. Leo’s Higher Elementary Teacher Training College, Ibara, Abeokuta, where there were some 300 young men training to become teachers. This important institution had been founded four years earlier by Leo Hale Taylor, then Vicar Apostolic of the jurisdiction. In mid-January 1953 Paddy was transferred to St. Gregory’s College where Tommy Moran, S.M.A., was principal. This school – Nigeria’s first Catholic secondary college – had been originally founded in 1877 as an elementary school with a section for training elementary teachers. In 1928 it had become a fully-fledged secondary college under Leo Hale Taylor. In 1955 Paddy returned to Ireland to produce a Centenary Magazine marking the Society’s foundation in 1956. 100 Years of Missionary Achievement, which he edited, was an excellent survey of the Society’s work since its foundation and has proved an invaluable source for historians. After its publication he returned to Lagos, resuming his duties at St. Gregory’s and also taking on the onerous duty of Chief Examiner and Moderator for most of the English tests run by the West African Examinations Council. He continued this work until invalided home in 1961. Suffering from a stomach ulcer which necessitated major surgery, Paddy recuperated in Ballinafad, until he was able to return to his teaching duties at St. Gregory’s in September 1962. During the Easter vacation of 1966 he was appointed Principal of St. Anthony’s Grammar School, Esure, replacing Bob Hales S.M.A. In February 1969 he handed over his Principalship to an African and spent the next four months as acting parish priest of St. Anthony’s parish, Surulere, Lagos.

In 1970, as part of the process of relocating the S.M.A. seminary from Dromantine to St. Patrick’s College Maynooth, a group of S.M.A. philosophy students took up residence in the College pending the erection of an S.M.A. house. Paddy was appointed superior of this group. He also took up a lectureship in English at the College and kept an eye on the new S.M.A. house then under construction. He performed these duties until July 1972 when at last the students were able to move into the completed house and Billy Foley SMA transferred from Dromantine as its first superior. Paddy was then appointed to the Society’s mission in Liberia, West Africa. Here he ministered as chaplain to the University of Liberia where he also served as a lecturer. Some months after his arrival he was appointed assistant professor of English. In 1979, suffering from exhaustion, he was advised by his Doctor to give up teaching and in January 1980 he resigned his post, leaving at the end of term in July of that year. He then took up parish work in the Monrovia archdiocese, first in Sannequellie and later at LAC, a vast rubber plantation located near Buchanan (owned by the Uniroyal and Goodrich Tyre Company). At LAC he served both as chaplain to the Consolata Sisters and as parish priest. He was to work in Liberia until 1989, with two periods of hospitalization in Ireland during 1984.

Paddy took on a new challenge in October 1989 when he went to the Philippines – location of a new S.M.A. Foundation – to assist John McCormack S.M.A. as assistant pastor in the Good Shepherd Parish, Las Pinas, Manila. In 1991 he was posted to the staff of the ‘International Spiritual Year Programme for Asia’, based at Silang. In fact this house of formation had not yet been opened and Paddy was immediately engaged in purchasing what was needed to supply the house – fridges, cutlery, mattresses and other basic equipment. In December preparations were complete and Noel Bradley, the director, and eleven students left their temporary home in New Manila to take up permanent residence. In October 1992 ill-health intervened and Paddy returned to Cork for extensive medical treatment. In particular the surgery undergone in 1961, during which much of his stomach was removed, began to cause him problems and he experienced difficulties in keeping up his weight. However as soon as he had made a reasonable recovery he returned to the Philippines, arriving there on 1st May 1994. He continued there until August 1996 when he retired from the active ministry.

In 1997 Paddy had the joy of celebrating the Golden Jubilee of his ordination and in 2007 the Diamond Jubilee. In October 2008 he underwent a heart bypass operation and in December of the same year he received a hip replacement. After this latter operation he came to Blackrock Road to convalesce until he felt well enough to return to Wilton. Unfortunately a few days after his return to Wilton he had a fall which damaged his hip. After a further operation he came to Blackrock Road for nursing care. However his health deteriorated and he died peacefully early on the morning of Wednesday 28th January 2009.

Paddy had a great love of literature and enjoyed lecturing on that subject. Over the years he produced articles, book reviews, as well as lecture notes for his students (now retained in the S.M.A. archives). His 100 Years of Missionary Achievement is an enduring book, beautifully written and illustrated. Paddy was a superb sportsman. He played golf to a high standard throughout his adult life. He was equally adept at cricket and soccer; and during his student days in Ireland, mastered the games of hurling and gaelic football. It is probable he could have followed a professional career in sport. In his own estimation, soccer was the sport he played best. It is worth recording that it was always a pleasure to play a game of golf with Paddy, no matter how inferior one’s standard. He was always most kind, and willing, in his gentle fashion, to offer advice. In St. Gregory’s College he played a central role in elevating the standard of the students in Athletics and Football, to such an extent that , for a period, St. Gregory’s was Nigeria’s premier college in those sports.

Asked on the occasion of his Golden Jubilee which of his appointments gave him most happiness Paddy replied that generally each posting suited him well. He enjoyed equally teaching, parish ministry, and formation work. Paddy was predeceased by his brother, Fr. Kevin S.M.A., his sisters, Eithne, Mary and Eileen (an Irish Sister of Charity), and his brother Colm. He was mourned by his sister Attracta and his brother Brendan as well as many nieces and nephews, relatives, friends and his confreres in the Society.

He is buried in the S.M.A. Cemetery, Wilton, Cork, Ireland.